FateRedo
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: 10 years after the 5th Holy Grail War, in which Shirou and Saber destroyed the Holy Grail, Tohsaka Rin and Shirou Emiya are faced with becoming masters of the 6th. But could more be going on than meets the eye? -All new servants and many new masters-
1. Tides of War

**Disclaimer: I do not own any content from the Fate/ project productions!**

**[[[[IMPORTANT NOTE]]]]- THIS FANFICTION FOLLOWS THE STORYLINE OF THE FATE/ZERO AND FATE/STAY NIGHT ANIMES.**

**Extra Note: Look people, I am all for constructive criticism, but if all you are going to do is beat me down for using the animes, don't bother reviewing at all!**

Fate/Redo

_Chapter 1: Tides of War_

At 9:00 In Fuyuki City, Japan, a young man of 17 walked through the streets for a very specific and dangerous reason. The man had brown hair and his eyes were an almost illuminated green. He wore blue pants that were too long for him and brushed against the ground with a black hoodie that had white stripes along its edges.

The man stopped walking and looked around before putting his hood up and sticking his hands in his front pockets, then continued walking with his head downcast. He was also muttering something inaudible under his breath as he ever so carefully walked in a precise manner in which he didn't even move aside if he bumped into someone. He paid no one any mind and just continued walking in his strange manner.

It was only when he came to the corner of a building he could have easily walked around by taking one step to the left that he stopped and looked up. He gave a look of annoyance like the building should move because it was in his way, but he still just gave a sigh and broke from his precise path to go to the front door and enter the building. He took an elevator to the roof and walked to the corner he had stopped in front of.

Here, he took one of his hands out from his pockets and sprinkled something invisible onto the corner while muttering again. Once he was done, he took the elevator back down and went back to the corner of the building, stepping on the other side of the corner and resuming his earlier walk as if nothing was different.

Finally, the young man stopped in the middle of an intersection where few cars were at the time. He smiled to himself as if pleased with his work, and then took his hood off and looked up at the moon. "It's taken 5 years, but everything is finally in place." He said to himself as he began to walk away.

The next morning, Emiya Shirou woke with a start. He had just had a dream about the Holy Grail War he was a part of. That had all happened almost 10 years ago, while he had still been in high school. Although he tried to tell himself it was nothing but a dream, Shirou couldn't shake the bad feeling he had about it.

After shaking it from his head, Shirou got out of bed and got dressed. As he stepped into the hall however, he stopped and sniffed the air; in which he smelt the fresh scent of food cooking, and opened the door and his good friend, Sakura Matou, was standing over the stove cooking breakfast. "Oh, good morning Shirou," She greeted him when she turned around.

"Oh, Sakura, I forgot you were here for a minute." Shirou replied with a laugh. "I'm sorry to hear your house burned down." Shirou said as he sat at the table.

"Don't worry about it; I should thank you for letting me stay with you until the rebuilding is done." Sakura replied and undid the tie of her apron, bringing the food to the table after.

"Don't mention it, I was glad to. What are friends for?" Shirou told her as they began to eat breakfast.

Once finished, Shirou stood up and went to the door. "I'm off to work now; I'll be back by one." He called back to Sakura before leaving.

"I'll have lunch ready when you get back." Sakura called back.

Shirou took his car and drove down to an Auto-shop, where he worked. He loved working here because he had always been best at this because of his 'Trace' magic. It allowed him to use magic all the time and remind him of Saber and how he felt about her.

"Hey Shirou, how's it going?" One of Shirou's co-workers called over when they noticed him working on a car.

"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking Taro." Shirou called back.

Shirou loved his work. All his co-workers were so kind to him and found his prodigy-like skills something to admire. Of course none of them actually knew that the secret behind his success was magic. Even though, the feeling of appreciation was something Shirou always looked forward to.

Shirou put his ear up to the side of the hood of the car he was working on. "Alright, start it up." He told another of his co-workers, Souta, who was sitting in the driver's seat of the car, who did as instructed and started the car.

Tried to start might have been more accurate, as the engine just revved until Shirou signaled his co-worker to stop. "What you think?" Souta asked.

"I think I found the problem, just need a second and I'll have it all fixed up." Shirou answered and picked up a wretch and opened the hood of the car.

In truth the problem was more serious than Shirou made it out to be. There was a leak in the oil tank that would probably need to be replaced if it weren't Shirou working on it. He looked around to make sure no one could see him from where he was and focused. _Trace on._ He activated his magic and found the leak in the oil tank, brought in metal from nowhere to patch the hole up like it never existed, then backed away and closed the hood of the car.

"Alright, try her now." Shirou told Souta.

Souta turned the key and the car started up, good as new. Souta laughed with amazement. "You really are something else, you know that Shirou."

"You just got to know what to look for." Shirou said, wiping his hands on a cloth.

At ten to 1:00, Shirou clocked out of work and headed home. When he got back, Sakura had already prepared lunch like she said she would. "You know I kind of feel bad with you cooking all my meals like when we were kids." He said as he sat down.

"Oh please don't, I like cooking. Besides, it's the least I can do as your guest." Sakura corrected him.

Sakura and Shirou continued eating and talking with each other until about fifteen minutes later, when all of a sudden the front door was pulled open by someone. "Shirou-" The person at the door was Tohsaka Rin, and old friend of Shirou and Sakura as well as one of the seven masters in the last Holy Grail War. Whatever she had come for, she looked pretty serious about it; she was currently panting, like she had run here from across town. "Eh, what's Sakura doing here?" She cut herself off of what she was about to say when she saw her.

"Well, my house burned down, so Shirou let me stay with him until my house is rebuilt." Sakura explained.

"Never mind, Shirou, come here for a minute!" Tohsaka practically screamed at Shirou, pulling up by the arm and into the back hall and into a distant room so Sakura couldn't hear them.

"Geez, Tohsaka, what's gotten into you?" Shirou asked when he was finally released.

"Look at this!" Tohsaka told Shirou and held her right hand up in his face.

What she showed him made Shirou understand why she did what she did. On the back of her right hand was something Shirou didn't want to ever see again: Command Spells. Command Spells were what marked a Magus as one of the seven masters to participate in the Holy Grail War.

"When did…" Shirou began, but unable to get the words out due to shock.

Tohsaka put her hand close to her chest and held it with the other one. "It appeared a week ago. When it did, I knew I had to tell you."

"You don't think I'll become a master again too, do you?" Shirou asked with his head down. Shirou had more memories he didn't like than he did from the war. He never regretted meeting Saber, but the war itself seemed unethical and just plain cruel.

"That is what I was afraid of." Tohsaka replied.

"But Saber and I destroyed the grail." Shirou stated, although immediately remembered Saber telling him that Kiritsugu, Shirou's adoptive father, had done the same thing in the previous war. If it didn't work then, why should it have worked when he tried it? Then Shirou realized something, "What about Illya?"

"I talked to her about it yesterday." Tohsaka assured Shirou. "She didn't have any Command Spells yet either, but that's not to say either of you won't be chosen. I contacted the Church about this before I came here; they confirmed that, including me, four of the masters have been chosen, although they refused to tell me who they were."

A moment of silence past when Sakura opened the door to where they were, wondering what was keeping them. "Is everything alright?" She asked Tohsaka.

"Oh, yeah, everything's alright now. I need to be leaving now." Tohsaka said and started to leave, but then Sakura grabbed her hand and stopped her.

Tohsaka turned back to her, and it seemed Sakura could tell something was wrong. But then she asked in her usual tone, "Wait, you came all this way, why not stay for lunch?"

"No, sorry, I really need to be somewhere." Tohsaka answered and walked out of the house.

Shirou tried his best to get everything about what Tohsaka said out of his head, but found himself stuck on the idea of going through another war. Just the thought was enough to make him cringe. Even though he failed to stop thinking about he, he got into his bed and fell asleep when night came.

It was that night everything started for him. While asleep Shirou had a dream of the last Holy Grail War, just like the night before. Now he knew this was no coincidence. His dreams were a signal the war was coming. It also probably meant he would end up as a master again.

Specifically though, Shirou's dream consisted mostly of the events in the war while Gilgamesh was present. What meaning this had was a mystery to Shirou, although it certainly had been the most frightening part of his experience.

Shirou woke with a jolt of pain while it was still late at night. The pain he felt was going through his right hand. He looked at the back of his palm once the pain subsided, and immediately went wide-eyed at seeing what was there. Though the design was slightly different than the ones he had last time, it was unmistakably the Command Spells. Shirou clutched his hand close to his chest. Because he had these Command Spells now, it meant he would have no choice but to participate in what was to come. He would have to go through the Sixth Holy Grail War.


	2. Caster, Lancer, Archer

_Chapter 2: Caster, Lancer, Archer_

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill, repeat five times." A young woman 19 years old chanted while standing over a magic circle. This chant was the chant that a Master used to summon their Servant for the Holy Grail War. "But when each is filled, destroy it." She said next. She wore sandals, slim blue jeans with tears at the knees, and a yellow-orange top that left her belly-button exposed. On her right hand she wore several silver rings, one on her thumb and index finger, two more on her middle finger, and one more on her pinky. On her left hand she had a charm bracelet. Her long hair was a light brown and her eyes were the color of sapphire. As she completed the chant, the magic circle glowed with bright light and from this light a person emerged.

The woman that came was archaic and looked ready to decompose already; nothing but skin and bones. She had log, frail white hair flowing down her back and wore a dress that looked like a torn and tattered priestess kimono of purple and red trimming. What made her look even worse than she already did were her eyes, she opened them to look at her Master and they were completely black where there should have been white, with the inside eye being blood red with the smallest pupils she could have.

Facing the person that summoned her, she spoke. "Who are you…?" She said in a deathly whisper. "Who are you who has summoned me, the one who carries the title of: Caster?"

At the women she had summoned, the young women stared with a look of mixed amazement and appall. Finally she answered her. "My name is Nimue Linna. And you are?"

While meditating, a man about 22 years old spoke up. "It appears that including me, 5 masters have already taken to the stage. Two more, and everything will be in its place," He said. The man wore a green vest with gold stitching and navy blue sweat pants, and he had brown hair and gold eyes

"Yes, although there seems to be Masters already chosen who have yet to summon their Servant. It seems they are reluctant to do so." Another man said, leaning against a hall wall hidden by the shadows.

"They will, they'll all have to summon their Servants' eventually Lancer." The first man said to the second, addressing him by his title as one of the Servants of the Holy Grail War: Lancer. The man himself was Lancer's master, Shun Saito. "It is fortunate though, that I got someone like you for my Servant." Shun said with a smile.

"And I-you for a Master," Lancer replied and walk off into the hall.

As Lancer walked away, Shun continued to sit and meditate. _"At last, my time has come. At last, I can bring some good fortune to my family's name."_

In the basement of her house, one of the Masters Lancer described as reluctant to summon their servant was now about to do just that; that woman was Tohsaka Rin. She stood over the magic circle she had drawn 10 years before, and was prepared to use it a second time.

During the previous war, she had preformed this ritual with the intention of summoning Saber, known as the strongest class, but got Archer instead. This time however, she felt that the Archer class was the only suitable one for her to use, and would aim for it again this time.

As she performed the ritual, she thought to herself that the chances that she would end up with the same Archer as last time were frankly slim to none, nonetheless she performed the summoning; and at the end of the spell her Servant appeared before her.

Steam seemed to rise and cloud her vision of who she had summoned. She could vaguely see the silhouette of the person she summoned. As the steam settled, the Servant walked forward and revealed himself.

The Servant was indeed of the Archer class. His silver hair stood up behind his head, and his red eyes stood out like lasers. He wore a tight black shirt and pants with a white belt that revealed that although he was not muscular, he was certainly very fit.

In a deep voice he asked, "Who are you?" However, this new Archer that faced Tohsaka asked this question more like a threat than a question. Because of this tone in his voice, Tohsaka became hesitant to answer. Then this new Archer took a step forward. "I said who are you?" Archer yelled and leaped at Tohsaka, grabbing her by the neck and pushing her up against the wall with her legs above the ground. "Tell me, who are you?"

Tohsaka hurriedly tried to escape Archer's grasp, but even with just his one hand holding her throat she couldn't get his fingers from wringing her neck. "Let me go." She squeezed out.

"I told you to tell me who you are!" Archer growled, squeezing even harder on Tohsaka's throat.

"Archer, let go…" Tohsaka demanded, but Archer did not listen. Then the red marks on Tohsaka's hand began to glow. "Let go of me now!" Tohsaka said, and one of the Command Spells vanished from her hand.

Once this happened, Archer froze and his grip came loose, letting Tohsaka fall to the ground gasping for air. Archer backed away with a stunned look on her face. "What did you do to me?" He asked.

Tohsaka coughed a few times from the lack of air, then looked up at Archer and answered. "I just used one of the Command Spells on you. Seriously, I can't believe you made me use one right after the summoning." She said as she stood up, rubbing her neck with one hand.

"Summoning, Command Spells, just what the heck have you gotten me mixed up?" Archer asked in a voice that revealed his wish to still be chocking the life out of Tohsaka.

Tohsaka took a moment to examine the situation. Obviously whoever this new Archer was, he was clueless as to what was going on. This was similar to Archer in the previous war who had no idea which Heroic Spirit he was, but at least he understood the circumstances under which he had been summoned. "You… really don't know why you're here do you?" She asked with a tone that almost sounded like pity.

"Of course I don't! Now I'm going to ask you once more; who are you?" Archer screamed at Tohsaka.

Finally having a grasp of what had just happened, Tohsaka answered with authority. "My name is Tohsaka Rin, and I am your Master in the Holy Grail War."

"War, I really am mixed up in something bad aren't I?" Archer asked.

Tohsaka got Archer to calm down and thoroughly explained to him everything about the Holy Grail War. Every extra detail given seemed to relax him more and more. When Tohsaka finally finished explaining, Archer spoke calmly for the first time. "I see, so that's it."

"I still don't understand how a Servant could have no knowledge of the Holy Grail War?"

Archer thought on this or a moment. "Well, you said that Servants are the manifestation of Heroic Spirits, which are beings who completed legendary accomplishments and become idles or monumentally worshiped after death, right?"

"That's correct," Tohsaka confirmed.

"Well, under that definition, it would not be too outlandish to say that a Servant could be the manifestation of a Heroic Spirit that never actually existed on earth." Archer said.

Tohsaka raised her head as if noticing the good probability of this opinion. "You mean like summoning an entity from a religion that turns out is not true?"

"Correct, for instinct assuming that the religion of Christianity turned out to be true, the god Buddha, who due to this circumstance never actually existed, could become a Heroic Spirit purely because of his level of worship."

"But wait," Tohsaka interrupted. "That is already possible. Even if an individual did not exist, they could still be summoned about a Servant as long as they are well-known. It doesn't explain why you don't know about the Holy Grail War."

Archer now thought of something else that might be able to explain his situation. "Perhaps, rather than the fact I did not truly exist in the first place. It is what my role as that entity I played that is to blame."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure how to explain it; but after you told me I was supposed to be a person from the past, I've tried to think back to my real life but… there's nothing."

"You mean you don't remember who you are?" Tohsaka said as if disappointed. She thought she must have rotten luck to get two such similar Servants like this in a row.

"No," Replied Archer. "It's not that I can't remember, but more like there isn't anything to remember."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that when I think back on what my life was when I was actually alive, all I can remember is blankness. Not like the memory has been wiped clean, but like there was nothing there that could be called a memory. As if I didn't have any of the five senses, I couldn't see anything, hear anything, feel, smell, or taste, I just have this vague sense of existing."

"I don't follow." Tohsaka said.

"To be honest I'm not sure about it myself, for now maybe we should stop thinking about it. Perhaps I'll figure something out."

"Alright then," Tohsaka said and stood up to leave. "You should get some rest; there are still some Masters who are yet to be chosen, so the War won't start for a while."

"Sure, oh, and under the circumstance I suppose I should apologize for forcing you to use one of your Command Spells so soon." Archer said suddenly, slightly surprising Tohsaka. "The next time you want me to do something I won't listen to, just remind me that I owe you one. That should work right?"

Tohsaka turned back to Archer. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Because I don't like owing people favors, I want to get this off my conscience as soon as I can." Archer answered.

Tohsaka looked stunned for a moment, then broke into a soft smile and turned away. "Geez, I really seem to attract strange Servants." She noted out loud and walked out of her basement.

It was midnight now, and a certain young man wearing a black hoodie was sitting on the top of a skyscraper at the edge of the roof. He smiled down upon Fuyuki City with a look of satisfaction and victory. "It won't be long now. Just a couple more weeks and I'll have exactly what I need." The young man said to himself and held something out in his hand.

This thing in his hand was a pure white feather, what significance it had was anyone's guess, but it made the man stare at it with a devilish grin that would frighten little children and snickered as if there was nothing he couldn't do with this one feather.

He continued laughing until the door to the rood opened up behind him, at which time he tucked the feather away and looked back. "Hey, what do you think you're doing up here? Get away from that edge you could fall!" A thin yet stern looking security guard with black hair and black eyes had come out and found him sitting at the edge of the building, calling him away.

In notice of him, the young man put the feather he held in a pocket so it wouldn't be seen and turned to the security guard, putting on a fake smile that would make one think he was a truly kind child that always obeyed his elders. "I'm coming, father." He said to the security guard and stood up and walked to the door.

"Goodness gracious Shinobu, just what am I going to do with you if you keep wandering off like this? I know you're almost 18 but that's no excuse. You still have to listen to me for another two weeks, got that?" The young man's father said at his disregard for safety.

"I understand, father, I promise to be careful." Shinobu responded.

"Alright, alright, now let's get going, your mother will be worried sick if we wait any longer to get home." Shinobu's father said and led him through the building.


	3. Assassin, Berserker, Rider

Fate/Redo

_Chapter 3: Assassin, Berserker, Rider_

In an old-looking Japanese country house, two people ate their breakfast together in silence. It was an awkward silence where it was simply a problem of neither party at the table feeling the need to start a conversation.

The man and woman sitting on either end of the small table in fact seemed bored. Both of them had their cheek resting on their hand as if they were trying to keep from falling asleep. And as the woman fiddled with her spoon in her soup the man merely took slow and steady spoonfuls of his.

The woman was 27 years old and had long blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a shirt 2 sizes to small for her and designer jeans. She had high-heel sandals and diamond earrings, and her sparkling blue nail polish and ruby red lipstick made her look like a glamour girl.

The man in contrast had a much more modest appearance. He was around 32 and wore a simple brown shirt and grey pants. He had scruffy brown hair and eyes and glared at the woman at the other end of the table as he ate his soup.

The woman smiled mischievously and spoke in a loud voice. "Assassin," And as she spoke the one word, a man appeared out of nowhere beside her.

The man had long ruffled black hair with a mustache and beard. He was slightly fat and wore a traditional white male kimono with a red sash around his waist and a fire emblem on his chest. In his right hand he held a double edged blade that looked crafted for royalty.

"What is it?" Assassin asked in a very irritated voice.

"Be a good Servant and go put this in the sink for me." The woman told Assassin.

Indeed, Assassin was one of the seven Servants summoned for the Holy Grail War, and this quite irritating woman was his unfortunate Master.

"Master, I may bare the title of 'Servant' but I am not your slave. Someone of your level has no right to give orders to me." Assassin said.

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of your identity and what that entails. But right now you serve me, Assassin." The woman gloated.

"Kasumi," The man at the other end of the table addressed the woman. "You shouldn't flaunt your power so much. It is unwise and shameful to do such." His glare grew more intense.

"Oh Yamato, my dear brother; you're just upset because I got picked as a Master for the Holy Grail War instead of you." Kasumi bragged.

Yamato slammed his hands on the table at this comment. "Of course I'm upset!" He yelled. "It should have been me, and your know it. I was always the better Magi; I was more powerful and more skilled than you! Why did the Grail chose you to be a Master?"

Kasumi's smile only seemed to broaden from Yamato's anger. "The Grail's chose has been settled, you should just be glad that I was gracious enough to invite you to help me win the Grail in the first place." She told him. "And I could still change my mind and have Assassin simply kill you as an unnecessary witness."

Yamato gritted his teeth at this, then turned and walked out of the front door to leave the country house. Assassin thought it unlikely he would return at all, but Kasumi's grin told him otherwise. Assassin's Master was many things, but she was not a fool; just as Yamato had said, she pales in comparison to him in all aspects as a magus. If she really tried to do this by herself, it was not likely she would win.

It was more than 14 hours later that Yamato finally returned to the country house. At this time Kasumi was already asleep. As Yamato made his way to his own bedroom, Assassin materialized before him. "I will say this much; it would have been better for the both of us if you had been my Master instead of Kasumi."

"You shouldn't say that. I may have been the better candidate for Master overall, but only she could have gotten you as a Servant. I always thought myself a better candidate for the Saber or Berserker." Yamato told Assassin.

It was not a moment after these words had been spoken that Yamato felt a slight pain in his right hand like that of a bee sting. Curious as to what caused it, he took his hand out of his pocket and examined the back of his palm.

Upon seeing what was there, Yamato's eyes twitched so slightly was there, even Assassin who was staring at him had not noticed. "What's wrong?" Assassin questioned.

"Nothing," Yamato said, waving his hand side the side showing there was nothing wrong with his hand. "Something must have stuck to my pocket that all." He said and walked up the stairs to his room, and Assassin vanished into his spirit form again.

Once in the safety of his room, Yamato looked at his hand again, and grinned an extremely satisfied grin one might mistake for sinister. On the back of his hand was indeed that which marked a Magus as a Master of the Holy Grail War- Command Spells. Looking upon what he had wanted to obtain for years he could do nothing but smile.

He had believed he had lost his chance to participate in the War because his sister had already been chosen, but it would appear that 'family limit of one' had been something they made up in their subconscious minds. The goal he worked toward was still achievable. This left only one question; should he tell Kasumi?

The answer he instantly came to was- 'of course not!'- If Yamato kept the fact he had become a Master a secret from Kasumi, he would have an upper hand. Help her defeat the other 5 Servants, and then take her and Assassin out when they least expect it.

The only problem with this plan was that Kasumi was the kind of person to notice detail, so he would first need a way to assure she did not accidentally see his Command Spell, which would be a dead give away, and second: he would have to find a place to perform the summoning where he could get to and from in a single night but far enough so she would not find out about it; as the summoning ceremony tended to be a bit flashy.

If he could accomplish these two things, it was quite possible for him to pull this off. But if even one thing was off, Kasumi would become suspicious. And if she became suspicious, Yamato would never have a chance to catch her off guard. It was these characteristics that landed her Assassin as her Servant. This was something that had to be taken care of with the upmost caution if he were to pull it off.

The chances of it working were slim, but he would try his best. And even if he did not manage to keep it hidden, Yamato still felt confident in his chance of beating Kasumi.

He preformed the summoning ceremony 2 weeks later, traveling over 200 km away from Kasumi's country house. It had been far enough that even assuming the glow of the magic circle could have been seen from the country house, Kasumi would not notice it unless she had been looking in that direction looking for it. His Servant emerged and stood up to look at his Master.

"Who are you, who have called upon me?" The Servant asked. The man that was of the Berserker class was very robust and strong. He had a square black beard and yellow eyes. He was dressed in attire similar to that of a Medieval Greek soldier, and wore two swords on either side of his waist.

"I am your Master, Yamato Inoue." Yamato declared to his Servant. "Help me now to win the Grail and together we shall obtain out true desires."

"Yamato, is it?" Berserker repeated. "Very well, I shall assist you, my Master." He spoke and knelt nobly to Yamato, who smile could only broaden.

In the city that would soon become the battlefield of the Holy Grail War- Fuyuki City- a young man stood on the branch of a tree overlooking a crowd. This man was known as Rider. He was one of the seven Servants to participate in the Holy Grail War. Rider had long dirty blonde hair and wore armor like an ancient roman warrior and had an unusually shaped sword strapped to his back. The sword's tip was point stair like a regular double-edge sword, but then on one side the blade jutted out with the vague shape of a triangle. From there down the sword slightly curved inward and back out in semi-circles on both side and bulged out on the flat ends. At the end of the curves two razor shape spikes jutted out diagonally upward like daggers and rested just above the odd hand guard that bulged out into an oval shape to all sides of the hilt, which looked to be made of pure silver.

Rider had been summoned the previous night and had been told by his Master to follow in the shadows at all times. Rider had at first protested against this, as it would be much easier to simply remain in spirit form in the city, and would not use up his Master's mana as much that way. But he had been unsuccessful changing that persons mind, and so he did as instructed, and followed in physical form while remaining unseen.

Rider watched the crowd below as many people walked around the city at night. He then saw his Master go into an ally; this was a signal they needed to speak. Rider jumped silently to the rooftop overlooking the ally and jumped down. Both he and his Master were hidden in the darkness of the ally.

"What is it?" Rider asked, but his Master did not answer. "I'm doing as you asked; you can't possibly have a problem with my methods." Rider said, slightly aggravated by his Master's silence.

Rider's Master still opted not to speak, but pointed back to the other end of the ally. When Rider looked in that direction he saw people walking past with no concern to them. But then someone past by the ally that gave Rider a shudder.

The person he had seen had appeared natural enough. He wore a black hoodie jacket with white lines on the edges, blue pants and had brown hair. However there was something about the young man that almost possessed Rider with a sense of vague fear. Whoever that person had been, he possessed a very dangerous magic that emanated from him and gave one that sense of snakes crawling over their body.

His magic had had that kind of effect even on Rider. The fact his Master had sensed it before he had showed why he had become that person's Servant. "Do you want me to follow him?" Rider asked without looking back.

Even without looking, Rider knew his Master had nodded in silence, and he would have done so even if his Master had said no. Someone with such dangerous magic that could make a Servant shudder might very well be another Master. If that were true, it would definitely be in their best interest to take him out as quickly as possible.

Given the O.K., Rider jumped up to a rooftop and began to tail the man with such a magic power.

Shinobu hurried down the street and made his way to the building which his father worked as a security guard. Rider, who was following him, vanished into spirit form to follow him inside.

Shinobu went up to the front desk. "Where is Kohaku Oshiro stationed at? I'm his son." He told the man at the front desk.

"Kohaku's kid huh? Alright then he should be up on the 23rd floor right now." The man told Shinobu.

"Thanks," Shinobu replied and began jogging toward the stairs.

Shinobu jogged all the way up to the 23rd floor without stopping like he was training for a marathon. "Shinobu, what are you doing here?" Shinobu's father asked, having been just by the stairs when Shinobu came up.

"I just finished with my boxing lessons and thought I'd come by and walk home with you once you were done." Shinobu answered.

Shinobu's father laughed with amusement. "Well that's nice of you. Sure thing, my shift will be over in about 15 minutes, so just don't go wondering up to the roof this time." He told Shinobu; referring to the last time he came to visit him during work.

"Okay dad, I won't." Shinobu said. "Hey, where's the bathroom?'

"Down the hall and first door on you left when you turn the corner." His father answered and Shinobu began jogging in that direction.

Shinobu reached the bathroom and went inside, however once inside he stopped in place. Rider was still following him in spirit form, and wondering what he was thinking. As he had watched this Shinobu talking with his father, he had seemed like a completely average teen. But now that he was alone he gave off a completely different vibe, the magic power that gave even Rider shivers seemed to rise in potency, for a moment making Rider wonder if he had been noticed.

But that was impossible, not even a Master could sense a Servant's presence while they were in spirit form. Nonetheless, Shinobu turned around and his green eyes seemed to glow unnaturally and he looked strait at Rider.

What had happened after that was anyone's guess, but the next night Rider met up with his Master in the same ally they had seen Shinobu, seemingly unharmed. "Sorry, I tried following him for a while, but somehow I lost him." He told his Master. "I don't know how I managed to lose such a menacing magic power but it didn't seem to me he was a Master. At the very least I never saw Command Spells for what that's worth."

Rider's Master said nothing as if not believing him. Rider sensed this and added. "All I know about him at this point is that his name in Shinobu Oshiro. Maybe if you did into his family history you can find something relating to Magic." Rider told his Master, who then, either satisfied or having given up, turned and returned to the crowd of people.

Rider looked on until his Master was out of view. Although his expression could not be seen in the darkness of the ally, one thing was noticeable. Riders eyes that had a second ago been brown for a moment glowed with an unnatural green color.


	4. Saber

_Chapter 4: Saber_

On Sunday November 13, Tohsaka decided to take Shirou to Illyasviel's home so they could all talk about the Holy Grail War together. Now only part-way into the conversation, the three of them sat around a table, and right now Illya had a very frustrated expression, like she was trying to hold in her anger.

Finally, she burst out: "Why?" She yelled, beginning to flail her arms. "How come I wasn't chosen to be a Master again!" She yelled, continuing to flail her arms like a child who didn't get the toy she wanted.

Tohsaka had confirmation from the church that all seven Master's had been chosen for the Holy Grail War, and Illya was not one of them. Illya seemed more upset to not be participating than Shirou was to be participating.

"I-Illya, calm down, you're being overdramatic." Tohsaka tried to quell Illya's anger.

But Illya just shouted. "I am not! Both of you got chosen again, so why not me!"

"Illya, if you think about it, it could be a good thing not to participate. I really wish I wasn't." Shirou tried his luck.

To no avail, Illya just seemed to become angrier. "So why were you chosen instead of me? The Grail picks the Master's based on their reason for wanting the Grail, right? So why did you get chosen over me!"

Then Tohsaka's Servant, Archer, who had be standing in a corner of the room spoke up. "Ah, all this woman's yelling is giving me a headache. Why did we have to come here again?" He asked impatiently.

"Because, Illya was involved with the last war and could be helpful to us again." Tohsaka told Archer.

"So what about him," Archer asked, pointing to Shirou. "He's supposed to be our enemy in this Grail War right, why are we teaming up with him?"

"Shirou and I have the same goal, so it doesn't matter which one of us wins so long as one does." Tohsaka said, sounding slightly angry.

Archer stopped protesting at hearing Tohsaka's tone, likely, she was still angry from the night she summoned him and he attempted to kill her. He changed into spirit form to leave them alone.

It wasn't a second after that that someone opened the door to the room without so much as a knock. The people who entered were representatives of the church, though why they were here was a mystery.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern?" One of the representatives asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Illya asked, standing up.

"Please come with us." The representative said.

"What is this about?" Illya questioned.

"It concerns the Holy Grail War. We wish for you to become the war's Regulator." The representative said, surprising Illya.

"The Regulator, doesn't someone from the Church normally do that?" Illya asked.

"Due to the events that occurred in the previous wars because of the Regulator, a certain level of distrust has risen in the Church. Because of that, the Church has decided that we must ask outside help to fill the role. Because of your knowledge of the Holy Grail War, participation in the pervious war, and fact you will not be a Master for the upcoming war; it has been decided you shall become the Regulator." The representative explained.

"But wait," Tohsaka cut in. "Wouldn't her association with us be a problem?"

"Be that as it may there is no one else outside the Church with enough knowledge of the Holy Grail War more suitable. Therefore, it has been decided, now if you would please, Illyasviel; come with us."

It took a moment for Illya to reply, but when she did, her answer was: "Very well, I will be the Regulator." She told them.

"Then come with us." The representative said, and Illya walked over to them and they all left the room.

For a moment Shirou and Tohsaka just looked at the door. Their interruption had been so sudden and abrupt they never even got down to what they had really come to talk about. "Well, I guess there's no point staying around here any longer." Tohsaka stated and stood up. "Archer, we're leaving now." She said, at which time Archer reappeared. "Oh, and Shirou, I should still say what I wanted to tell you. Although you'd rather not, it's best you summon your Servant soon, by the end of the week at the latest." She said, and then left together with Archer.

Shirou became a bit depressed when Tohsaka said that. He already knew that, but didn't want to admit it. Hearing it out loud made him wish all the more he didn't have to go though this again. It was a minute or two until Shirou realized he needed to get home before Sakura started worrying.

Shirou got home around 2:00 P.M., about an hour later than he normally did. If Sakura started asking questions about what took him so long that wouldn't surprise him; she was the kind of person who worried over each little detail.

He opened the door and entered the house. "I'm back, Sakura." He said upon entering the house. Sakura wasn't at the door; Shirou thought she was probably waiting at the dinner table. However, when he went she wasn't there either. "That's strange," Shirou said, but then realized there was a note on the table.

_Went out to buy groceries, I'll be back soon. _

"Oh, so that's it." Shirou said to himself and walked to his room.

That night, Shinobu went up to his room after dinner. Taking off the fake smile he seemed to always wear around his parents, he walked over to his bed and sit down looking out the window. "Come on now, I can't wait forever. Once you summon Saber, everything will be in place." He said and pulled out his white feather, holding it out to view it in the moonlight. "Everything will be in place…"

It was now Friday night and Shirou was driving around town, unable to sleep thinking about what Tohsaka told him. _"Although you'd rather not, it's best you summon your Servant soon, by the end of the week at the latest." _Now that the end of the week was here, he wanted more than ever not to have to be part of the Holy Grail War again, but at the same time he realized just how much she was right.

10 years didn't seem like such a long time anymore as he thought back to the events of the previous war. The things he had learned about his father, Kiritsugu Emiya; fighting against Kotomine Kirei, and of course meeting Saber.

Saturday morning he was exhausted from having no sleep, so he took a day off of work. Sakura made him some soup in case he was feeling ill, and he stayed in his room for most of the day. But rather than sleep, all he could do was lie there thinking about the Holy Grail War.

Before Shirou knew it, it was already the middle of the night. _"It's best you summon your Servant soon, by the end of the week at the latest." _Well, now it was the end of the week. No matter how much he didn't want to, he knew he had to do it now.

Shirou got out of bed and walked out of the house. He walked around and entered the Dojo in back of the house. He looked around silently and thought about the times he had trained with Saber here during the last war. Thinking like that, he couldn't help but reminisce about all the good times he did have during the period of the war.

This was also the same place he had summoned Saber for the first time. He hadn't even really known how to perform a summoning, but it had happened anyways. Perhaps it was because back then his life was put in jeopardy by Lancer, but this time around he would have to do it on his own.

_Trace, on! _Shirou thought, as he imaged the magic circle used for the summoning. He had only gotten a glimpse of it last time, but the image was imprinted in his memory, he'd never forget what it looked like. Using his magic, Shirou began to form the magic circle to summon his Servant.

Slowly the circle was completed, and the Command Spells on his hand began to glow faintly. As the circle was completed and shined greatly, Shirou shouted. "Come!" And at the one word, the magic summoning circle glowed brighter than ever before, and from that light emerged a person.

Shirou stepped back and watched as that person walked toward him and asked a single question. "Art thou my Master?"

Looking upon his Servant, Shirou muttered: "You're…"


	5. Striker

_Chapter 5: Striker_

It was Sunday morning and Shinobu Oshiro sat up in his bed. "Finally… all seven Servants have been summoned for the Holy Grail War." He said to himself. "Now that everything is in place, all that's left to do is to summon _that_ person." Shinobu said and pulled out the white feather he seemed to keep with him at all times. "I honestly couldn't have chosen a better day to have the summoning."

Shinobu got out of bed and got dressed in his hoodie jacket and blue pants. Afterward he opened the door and began to walk down the stairs. When he got downstairs he found all the lights turned off and the windows covered allowing for little light. Thinking perhaps he was the only one up right now, he thought nothing of it and walked to the dining room.

Shinobu was barely able to see and used his hand to search for the light switch on the wall. And when he turned the lights on he was met with a sudden shout. "Happy Birthday!" His parent's said in front of the dinner table with glowing faces.

Immediately after, a young girl 8 years old ran up to Shinobu and hugged his leg and looked up at him. "Happy Birthday, big brother!" She told him.

Shinobu smiled with appreciation and bent down to pat his little sister on the head. "Thank you, Sayuri; thank you too, Mom and Dad."

"There's no need to thank us, Shinobu." Shinobu's mother told him. "Today is a special day."

"Your mother's right Shinobu, it's your eighteenth birthday after all." Shinobu's father said. "And that's why today we're going to go wherever you want to celebrate."

"Really, anywhere I want?" Shinobu asked with enthusiasm.

"That's right Shinobu, anywhere you want to go, all day." Shinobu's mother said.

Shinobu had an honest smile as he thought of the possibilities.

After a moment of thought, Shinobu spoke up. "You know what? Because today is such a special day, I want all of you to be happy too. Let's each choose a place to go today." He said, surprising his parents.

"Really, are you sure Shinobu?" His mother asked.

"Yes, and I want the three of you to go first, I'll go last." Shinobu told them, and then leaned down to his sister. "So how about we start with you Sayuri; where would you like to go?" He asked her.

Sayuri's eyes lit up at the generosity of her older brother. "I want to go ice skating!" She declared.

Ever since she saw an ice skating movie last month Sayuri had been obsessed with learning how to ice skate, but everyone always seemed to be too busy to take her. But today their parents had made sure to completely clear their schedules, so it looked like her wish would come true.

Shinobu's mother giggled at Sayuri's decision. "Alright, ice skating it is." She said, and the family of four headed out to their car.

The ice skating rink was only a half-hour drive from their house, but Sayuri was still eager the whole way there. Once they arrived they all walked in together, Shinobu's father paid the entrance fees, and once they got the skates on Sayuri rushed onto the ice; slipping only moments after.

Shinobu's mother rushed out to help her up, consoling the crying girl and then helping her skate around.

Shinobu grinned a cheerful grin as he watched them skate around. "This is real nice of you Shinobu." Shinobu's father told him as the two slowly went around the edge of the skate rink.

"Well it's a special day; I wanted us all to have fun." Shinobu replied.

Shinobu's father put his hand on his son's shoulder. "You're a good man, you're gonna' do just fine."

"Thanks Dad." Shinobu said.

After a few hours Shinobu and his parents decided it was about time to leave. And despite some argument on Sayuri's part, Shinobu decided it was his father's turn to decide where they would head next. "Well, seeing as it's almost two O'clock, how about I treat you to a late lunch at a restaurant I'm fond of?" He suggested.

"It's your choice." Shinobu remarked with a smile.

Without delay, everyone packed into the car and Shinobu's father drove them to a restaurant called International. True to its name, its menu showed that it sold various foods from all across the globe, which explained why Shinobu's father had been fond of it.

Some time ago, Shinobu's father had been an international business agent, and as such had spent a lot of time overseas, where he would be introduced to many different flavors of food. When Shinobu had been born however, he quit his job and started work as a security guard so that he could spend more time at home with his family.

Shinobu's father ordered an American style chicken fried steak and his mother chose to try a Russian dish call Pirozhki: bread rolls stuffed with potatoes, meat, cabbage and cheese. Shinobu decided to give a try to Italian Ravioli while Sayuri wished to stick with what she knew and ordered miso soup.

Once their food arrived and they had all started eating, Shinobu's mother started a conversation. "So Shinobu, do you have any plans as for a career?" She asked.

Shinobu thought on this for a moment. "I'm not sure; I never thought about it much." He said. "Maybe I could get a job as a security guard and work with Dad." He added with a laugh.

The rest of his family joined in his laughter. "Well why not? Make it a family thing." Shinobu's father proclaimed.

"Maybe," Shinobu replied.

It was past 4:00 by the time they actually finished eating, and now it was Shinobu's mother's turn to choose a spot. She rubbed her shoulder as she answered. "I could do for some place to relax. How about we visit a hot spring?"

"Alright then, hot spring it is." Shinobu replied and once again the family gathered in their car and drove off.

It took another half hour to reach the hot spring. Once there, they separated to go into the separate girls and boys sides.

Sayuri and her mother got into the hot spring and leaned back to just soak for a minute. "Ah, this is nice." Sayuri's mother said as she relaxed. "Now wasn't this nice of your older brother to do all of this for us?" She turned and asked Sayuri.

"Yeah, today has been really fun!" Sayuri replied with enthusiasm.

"It sure has." Sayuri's mother agreed and then sank herself further into the hot spring.

On the other side, Shinobu and his father found themselves quite enjoying their relaxation. "You've got to hand it to your mother; she sure knows how to pick 'em." Shinobu's father said as he laid back in the steaming water.

"It really does feel nice to be relaxing like this. Feel's like I could just take a nap here." Shinobu replied.

"So, have you decided where you want to go once we're done here?" Shinobu's father asked.

"Don't worry about that; I already know where I want to go…" Shinobu answered, leaving it a mystery for the moment.

When they all left the hot spring feeling rejuvenated, it was sunset, and finally Shinobu's turn to pick a destination. "So, where is it you want to go, Shinobu?" Shinobu's mother asked.

"I want it to be a surprise, so let me drive." Shinobu answered and got into the driver's seat.

As Shinobu drove through the city, the day had descended into night and a few stars could be seen coming out and the streets emptied of people. Shinobu stopped the car on the side of the road and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Here we are." He told them.

Everyone got out of the car and found that the place Shinobu had wanted to go was the Fuyuki Park in the middle of the city. "This is where you wanted to go?" Shinobu's mother asked. "The way you were talking about it, I thought it was going to be someplace a little more extravagant."

"No, that's not why I chose to come here." Shinobu said as he led his family to the fountain in the very center of the park.

"What do you mean, why is this place so important to you?" Shinobu's father asked.

"It's not so much important as it is specific." Shinobu replied.

They stopped in front of the fountain and Shinobu's parents realized he hadn't looked at them since they arrived. "Is something the matter Shinobu? You're acting strange." Shinobu's mother said with a worried expression.

"I'm okay." Shinobu answered. "Better than okay actually, this has been the best day of my life, and I'm glad I got to share it with all of you."

"Then why aren't you looking at us anymore?" Shinobu's father asked.

"Oh, is that what you were wondering about?" Shinobu said, still without turning around. "That's just because of what makes this place specific."

"And what's that?" His mother said.

"This is why…" Shinobu began, and suddenly something beyond strange happened.

Everything around them, the sky, the buildings, and the birds were seemingly covered in a dim blue sheet of light. It wasn't just that, everything around was not simply coated in light; the light was actually a consequence of what was really happening. Time seemed to be frozen. Everything around the, a car that was passing behind them, the birds in the sky, time itself came to a halt; and Shinobu was the only one of the family that didn't seem confused.

And then something else occurred. Lines of bright red that illuminated the blue setting sprang up all around them. The lines seemed to be arranged in some sort of design, like what one would expect to see of a magic circle. Little did they know, that was exactly what it was.

"…It is the place for my summoning to take place." Shinobu continued his thought from a few moments before.

"Your… what?" Shinobu's mother wondered as she stared at Shinobu's back.

Finally, Shinobu began to slowly turn around and face his family. "Don't hate me for this, it's nothing personal." He said and looked into the eyes of his parents and sister in turn.

They all noticed something terribly wrong with Shinobu. His smile no longer seemed warm and kind, but malicious and terrifying. And his eyes seemed to be glowing an inhuman green while filled with killing intent. Before they could understand anything of what was happening, Shinobu stepped toward them and raised his hand.

Without knowing what hit them, both of Shinobu's parents' chests were torn open by Shinobu himself, and their bodies fell to the ground covered in blood, dead.

"AHHHH!" Sayuri screamed upon seeing her parent suddenly dead.

"Sorry about that Sayuri." Shinobu said and leaned down to pat his little sister on the head with hands covered in his parent's blood. "I wish you didn't have to see that, but it would have been harder to kill them second than it would be for you." He said in an almost casual voice.

Before Sayuri could figure out a response to that statement, Shinobu's hand stabbed into her chest as well. She looked down to see her brother's hand as it was taken from her chest, and blood spilled from her chest. "Bro…ther…" She muttered and fell to the ground; dead just like her parents.

Shinobu stood up and reached into his coat pocket. "To summon a being as what I am about to do; fitting sacrifices needed to be given." Shinobu spoke to himself and took out that single white feather he always had on him. "At the same time, I needed the seven Servants of the Holy Grail already summoned to ensure the Holy Grail did not attempt to make me a regular Master while I preformed it. If that had happened I may have ended up with someone different no matter what I'd done." He continued speaking as he held out his hand dropped the feather into the blood of his family. "Now I call upon you; give me your strength and lead me to my absolute prize."

The magic circle Shinobu had taken 5 years to draw that stretched across the entire city of Fuyuki flared in radiance as the summoning was completed. The next thing Shinobu knew, a multitude of white feathers were scattered around him. And sitting on the fountain next to him was a man in his twenties who wore a pure white robe with gold lacings that looked like something that would be worn by ancient Greek men. He also had a thing sword with a solid gold hilt that made it look like a fencing blade tied to his waist.

"I hear your call, and answer it in full." The man said and caught one of the falling feathers, holding it in front of him. "Tell me, what would you have me do to fulfill your 'absolute prize'?" The man asked Shinobu.

"I know your identity completely, but tell me what I might call you for the purpose of the Holy Grail War?" Shinobu asked.

The man thought for a moment, and then answered. "You may call me… Striker."


	6. Begin the Holy Grail War

_Chapter 6: Begin the Holy Grail War_

Shirou woke up Monday morning, but was still tired from everything going on with the Holy Grail War. He dragged himself out of bed and went to the dining room, where Sakura was already up and preparing breakfast on the table. "Good morning Shirou." She said in her usual cheery tone.

During the last Grail War, Caster had subjugated Sakura to be a sacrifice to summon the Holy Grail without killing all the Servants, but she had no actual memory of that event, and as such still knew nothing about magic or the war; so Shirou still had to hide it from her.

"Morning, Sakura." Shirou replied and sat down to start eating.

"Do you need to work today Shirou?" Sakura asked as they ate.

"No, I have today off." Shirou replied.

"I see, well I need to check on how the rebuilding of my house is going, so I'll be gone for a few hours after breakfast."

"Ah, alright,"

Once the two of them had finished eating, Sakura grabbed her handbag and left. After she left, Shirou put a bunch of the leftovers from breakfast on a plate and took it to the dojo. In the previous Grail War where Shirou had introduced Saber to Sakura and Ms. Fujimura, not feeling it right to just make her sit out in the dojo all day; but there were reasons he was simply unable to do the same thing with his new Servant.

He entered the dojo and saw a single person sitting at the end of the room. The person looked over to Shirou when he entered; this was his new Servant. Shirou's servant had blonde hair and green eyes; however, it was not the same Saber he had the previous Grail War. But Shirou also knew exactly who he was the moment he had seen him.

He had seen a person who looked perfectly identical to Saber in a dream once where he peered into her past. She had finished that person off with her lance, and he in like had done to her with his sword, the attacks ultimately resulting in both of their deaths. That person had referred to Saber as 'father' in the vision. From that information, he could have been only one person; Mordred.

These were the reasons he couldn't let Mordred walk around the house as he had let Saber. He looked perfectly identical to Saber as Sakura met her 10 years ago; so aside from the fact Sakura would think he was Saber, there was the fact she would wonder why there was no age difference.

"Mordred, here's your breakfast." Shirou told his Servant with a tone of disdain.

Because Shirou loved Saber, whom Mordred had killed, it was only natural for him to dislike his new Servant.

Mordred stood up and walked to accept his meal. "Thank you, but I would prefer you call me by Saber when speaking with me, lest an enemy be listening in and overhear my identity." Mordred told Shirou.

"I can't." She declared and turned to the door. "It doesn't feel right addressing you the same way I did her." Shirou explained.

Shirou had already explained to Mordred that in the previous war, his Servant's identity had indeed been King Arthur, his 'father'. Mordred was surprised to hear this information but still did not seem to understand why Shirou held hostility toward him.

Yet no matter what the issue was, the two of them needed to work together and win the Holy Grail War. Shirou was about to leave when his cell phone rang, and he took it from his pocket and answered. "Hello," He said. "Oh, Tohsaka, what is it?" He asked and listened. "Meet? Then just come by my house, Sakura isn't here right now." He replied. "Alright then, bye," He said and hung up.

"Who was that Master Emiya?" Mordred asked.

"That was Tohsaka; she's another Master in the Holy Grail War." Shirou answered. "The two of us are working together, so she's coming over to talk about our next move."

Tohsaka arrived soon after her call, and brought Archer with her. She and Shirou sat at the table while Archer chose to sit in a corner. "So you summoned your Servant right; where is-" Tohsaka began but then Mordred walked in and she nearly jumped. "Saber!" She practically screamed, seeing only a face identical to King Arthur.

"That is correct, and you must be Tohsaka." Mordred replied, just taking 'Saber' as his class.

"No, he's not the same as last time." Shirou interrupted, correcting Tohsaka. "This is Mordred, her son."

"Eh, son; But he looks just like her!" Tohsaka complained.

"I am a Homunculus made from the semen of King Arthur during a time the wizard Merlin transformed her into a male." Mordred explained.

"I-is that so?" Tohsaka remarked as her face twitch at being given this information; not entirely sure how to take something like that.

"Master Emiya, I fail to understand why we are teaming up with the enemy." Mordred said.

"That's exactly what I said." Archer noted from the side.

"We want the same thing, it doesn't matter which one of us wins." Shirou explained.

Mordred sighed. "Very well," He said, and then looked at Archer. "So what is your identity? It seems only natural if we are on the same side."

"I'd tell you if I knew, but I can't seem to recall anything from my past." Archer replied. "Or rather, there doesn't seem to be anything for me _to_ remember."

"What?" Mordred wondered.

"Let's just say I don't know my identity and leave it at that." Archer replied, not wanting to explain the whole concept.

"Anyways, we're getting off the issue." Tohsaka said, returning everyone to what the purpose of their meeting was. "When I was chosen to be a Master, I began setting up barriers around the city to see if I could pick up on any of the other Masters arrival."

"And," Shirou asked.

"From what I understand, at least three other Masters have already made their way here; maybe more."

"All seven Masters have summoned their Servants, so the war can now easily begin at anytime now." Archer added. "We'll have to be on our toes."

"Tonight, Archer and I will attempt to find one of the Masters and take out their Servant. Shirou, it would be helpful if you and Mordred assisted in the search. And we will have a better chance at victory with two of us in the case we do encounter another Servant."

"Alright then, when should we meet?" Shirou asked.

"Meet us at Fuyuki Park at 10:00 P.M." Tohsaka replied and stood up. "We'll start from there."

"Alright," Shirou said.

"Good; Archer, let's go." Tohsaka told her Servant, who stood up and changed to spirit form as the two of them left.

"If we are planning to search through the night, it would be helpful if you were to rest to conserve your energy." Mordred told Shirou after they were gone.

"No, I'll be fine." Shirou replied. "But you should go back to the dojo before Sakura gets home."

"Very well, Master Emiya," Mordred responded and left to the dojo.

When 10 O'clock rolled around Shirou got himself out of bed and silently made his way to the dojo. "Mordred, let's go." He said.

"Yes, let us make haste to our destination." Mordred replied, and the two of them started making their way around to the front of the house.

As they were heading for the front gate however, Mordred suddenly felt the presence of someone watching them and froze. He spun around and looked up at the roof of Shirou's house but saw nothing. "Mordred, hurry up." Shirou called, snapping Mordred out of his trance.

Mordred shook the feeling and followed after Shirou, but did not lower her guard in case whatever she had felt attacked.

Tohsaka and Archer waited in Fuyuki Park on top of a nearby building, keeping watch in case any of the other Masters happened to come by. "How about it, do you sense any of the Masters yet?" Archer asked.

Tohsaka shook her head in response. "No yet- wait!" She interrupted herself catching someone on one of her barriers heading this way. "Yes, I've got one; coming from over there." Tohsaka said and pointed to their right.

Archer looked down the street and then saw two figures walk out from behind a corner in the distance. Looking closely, he could tell it was a woman with blonde hair wearing fashionable clothes and a man with black hair in a white kimono robe with a fire emblem on it. The man had a sword tied to his side, which must have meant he was the Servant. "Want me to take them out quickly?" Archer asked.

"Shirou and Mordred should be here soon, so even if that fails and we get into a fight here, he should be able to get here to back us up quickly enough." Tohsaka replied to decide on an appropriate course of action. "Alright then, do it Archer."

Archer grinned and looked down at the enemy and her Servant. "We'd best pay close attention; maybe if we examine how I fight we can get a clue as to who I really am." He said and then raised his hands.

Before Tohsaka's eyes, there were suddenly a pure golden arrow in Archer's right hand and a golden bow in his left. She was surprised, but not because of their appearance. Rather, she was surprised because it didn't seem like they had suddenly appeared there from teleportation or from Trace magic like Shirou. It felt more like they had already been there in his hands and she was just unable to perceive them until that moment.

Archer took aim slowly, giving as little room for error as possible. "See ya." He said with a grin and released his arrow.

The arrow flew over 29 meters strait for the enemy Servant's forehead but… the Servant was not taken easily. Almost as if he had known it would come, the enemy Servant drew his sword with incredible speed and blocked the arrow, knocking it to the side, where it suddenly vanished as if it were never there.

"Damn it, Archer let's go." Tohsaka said after their sneak attack was blocked.

Archer grabbed Tohsaka by the waist and leapt from the building, landing quickly but safely on the ground, at which point Archer let go of Tohsaka and charged forward at the enemy Servant. The enemy reacted in kind and ran toward Archer. When Archer and the enemy neared, the enemy swung his blade for Archer's neck, and Archer swung his fist, and in that instant a crooked blade appeared in his hand to block the Servant's attack.

"You were foolish to think you could assassinate Assassin!" The enemy Servant told Archer, revealing his Servant class.

"Well isn't this good fortune," Assassin's master said when she came up to them. "I was worried we'd have to hunt down all the Servants and Masters but here you've come to us."

Tohsaka also arrived to assist Archer. "Hm, don't take me for some coward too afraid to fight. This isn't even my first Grail War; so in terms of experience, you should be the one afraid." She bragged.

"Oh, so we have a cocky Master here do we? Well I know how to zip that lip of yours… now!" The woman yelled and suddenly large spikes of rock were being launch toward Tohsaka.

"Uh!" Archer realized they were coming and pulled his free hand to the side, swinging it at which time a gold dagger was suddenly in his hand.

Assassin was forced to jump away and Archer turned and ran in front of Tohsaka just before the spikes of rock struck her. But the spikes were just inches from Archer's body, there was no way he could block them in time…

Or so they all believed. In a bout of impossibility, the blades in Archer's hands were replaced by a huge golden shield. And yet no matter how it was looked at that shield shouldn't have been able to block the earth spikes in its position it currently held in conjunction with how close they had been to striking Archer down. And yet it had still happened, and that just meant that he and Tohsaka were in the clear for now.

"Ah man, talk about your tough breaks." A man said as he walked up to the battlefield. "I'm surprised you were able to block that attack, but at least now I'll be able to fight without restrictions."

"Hmph, I'll bet you just underestimated the opponent, Yamato." The female Master revoked the man's statement. "If you had put a little more Prana into your spell, than that Servant wouldn't have been able to get in the way in the first place."

"Stop pinning everything on me Kasumi!" Yamato shouted back at the female Master.

"So, you two Masters have teamed up?" Archer questioned.

"Oh no, Yamato isn't a Master," Kasumi corrected Archer. "He's just my brother, and I called him over to help me win the Grail."

"I see," Tohsaka said, and then looked back as if looking for something. "Where's Shirou?"

"If you're worried about That Master you teamed up with you should give it up." Yamato said, noting Tohsaka's expression. "I already noticed them on their way before heading here, so I set a little magic trap for them. Assuming they survive it will still take them a while before they can make it over here."

"What!" Tohsaka questioned.

"Oh, so you thought that far ahead Yamato? I'm impressed." Kasumi told her brother.

Shirou and Mordred were stuck a ways away from Fuyuki Park. But the reason wasn't a simple magic trap. Yamato, who was hiding his status as a Master, had sent his Servant to intercept them and keep them busy until he was given a signal.

Berserker now stood in the way and challenged Shirou and his Servant, keeping them from meeting up with Tohsaka and Archer. "Out of the way, or I will have you taste my blade." Mordred told the Servant.

"Do not fool yourself; I am Berserker, what reason would I have to back down from a challenge?" Berserker stated and drew his two swords.

The two Servant's stood there for a moment, and then they charged forward at each other, plowing their weapons into each other and clashed, pushing against one another.

(Trace, on!) Shirou thought and began creating a weapon for his own use in battle. Last time he had been unable to be much help to Saber because his Trace magic was unrefined. But after 10 years he had learned how to use it properly and did not plan to just sit around while Mordred did all the fighting.

In his hands appeared two blades. They were Kansho and Bakuya, the main dual blades Archer from the previous war had used in battle. Berserker saw this and was not planning to give either one of them a chance to strike.

Berserker push Mordred back and then swung one of his two sword down, making him have to jump back to dodge. Shirou ran up to Berserker and stabbed forward with Kasho, but Berserker easily deflected the attack. Shirou followed up by adding the momentum from being deflected into his attack with Bakuya, but still Berserker deflected the attack. Berserker readied his own attack swung his swords down on Shirou, but then Mordred came back around and got between them to protect Shirou.

Shirou let his weapons vanish and then ran back to a safe distance, after which Mordred jumped away as well. "Tell me Berserker, where is your Master?" Mordred asked.

"Oh he's around somewhere, but he has no wish to put himself out in the open." Berserker answered.

Mordred laughed. "So your Master is a coward." He accused.

"Not at all," Berserker retorted. "He is merely making the best of his situation, which requires his identity to remain a secret."

"I see,"

"Now if you don't mind I'd much rather get this over with." Berserker remarked and raised his blades once more, ready to strike his opponent down.

Little did they know that they were being watched by another Servant; Rider. With that strange blade on his back he stood on a tree hidden within its branches watching the two Servants' fight. However something about him was off, his eyes once more were glowing that unnatural green color they should not have been.

However, Rider's eyes change back to normal and he puts his hand to his head as if suffering from a headache. "What…"

"Watching from the shadows? Isn't that pretty cowardly of you?" A voice suddenly said as another Servant appeared on the tree next to Rider.

Rider was surprised by his appearance and took his oddly shaped sword and swung it at the Servant, but he ducked down and the blade stuck into the tree instead. The Servant was a man in his twenties wearing a skin tight light green outfit with yellow pads on his shoulders, knees and elbows. The Servant held a jet black spear in his right hand, and from that must be of the Lancer class.

Lancer looked up at Rider's blade in the tree. "Hee, you must not have swung that at full force, if you had this tree would have easily been knocked down by your attack. Do you want to stay out of the fighting that badly?" he asked.

Rider did not answer, but it wasn't because he didn't want to. Rather, Rider didn't remember leaving his post protecting his Master during the night. Even worse, it shouldn't have been possible for him to leave even if he wanted to, his Master had used a Command Seal in order to make sure he did not attempt to partake in unnecessary battles; more specifically he was ordered not to fight unless the enemy came to him.

Rider had of course noticed the commotion, but because of the Command Seal was not allowed to head toward it; and yet here he was in the midst of it.

"Well then, how about we go and say 'hi'?" Lancer said and raised his spear to strike.

In the moment Lancer threw his spear at that close range for Rider's head, Rider pulled his sword free of the tree and leapt backwards. Doing this however landed him right between the fight of the two other Servants as they made to swing their weapons at one another; which were now about to strike him.

Rider reacted as quickly as he possibly could and spun his body in a circle with his sword held out. This action made both the other Servants have to jump away, too surprised by Rider's sudden appearance to have been able to make a proper block.

Lancers spear struck into the side of a building behind them, and now all of them were left with some sort of question. "Who are you?" Mordred asked.

"Where did you come from?" Berserker questioned.

"What was that?" Shirou wondered looking at the spear in the wall.

(How did I get here?) Rider thought.

To answer Shirou's question, a man walked up to the battlefield. "Oh, that's no good. Lancer, you should have used the incantation when striking Rider." The man said, looking at the tree Rider had come from.

In response to the man, Lancer jumped down from the tree and replied. "Sorry, I guess I over anticipated the other Servant's attacks, they were meant to finish him off before he had a chance to think." He said. "Even so, I should have used the incantation as insurance, I'll make sure not to make the same mistake twice." Lancer then held his hand up and called out a single word. "Athibar," And with it his spear stuck in a wall on the other side of the street flew backwards and landed directly in his hand.

"Master Emiya, it seems we will be unable to regroup with Archer and his Master tonight." Mordred reported.

"Yeah, looks that way."

At this time, a single pair suddenly appeared in Fuyuki by teleportation. This pair was the last Master and Servant yet to arrive: Caster and her Master Nimue.

Nimue sighed. "Aw, it looks like everyone started without us, such a shame." She said to Caster. "In that case, let's show them what happens when we get left out of a party."

At this order, Caster took something out of her pocket and put her hand in front of her face. As she opened her hand, a small necklace fell down suspended by a chain. The necklace was a black pentagram, and it began to glow ominously as she uttered the name of the dreadful Noble Phantasm in a hoarse voice. "Pagan's Path…"

And with all seven Servants gathered, the sixth Holy Grail War had truly commenced.


	7. Truce

_Chapter 7: Truce_

"**Pagan's Path**…" Caster spoke the name of her Noble Phantasm and energy was emitted from it that felt evil in the deepest sense of the word. "**Dark Paganism.**"

It was at this moment that something strange fell over all six other Servant's currently fighting. In reaction to this strange sensation, the Servant's froze whatever action they were doing and gripped their heads in pain, even dropping their weapons and falling to their knees.

The Master's were all left unaffected, but the wonder of what could have possibly come over them was not ignored.

"Lancer, what's going on?" Shun Saito asked his Servant who was screaming due to the pain.

"Hey, what's happening?" Shirou asked Mordred, who was in an identical condition.

Neither Berserker's nor Rider's Master were present to attend to them, but the chances they were not aware of the event at all were quite low.

Shirou ran over to Mordred and shook him. "Hey, what's gotten into you?" He asked. Mordred was to in too much pain to answer, but when his eyes opened Shirou saw nothing by an emanating pool of darkness, like he was staring into nothing.

Shun saw the same effect on Lancer, but had some idea what it might mean. "Something on this level without warning; Caster must be doing this." He said.

Shirou looked at Shun and saw that had been an actual reply to his question. "I may not know exactly what this spell is doing, but the chances of this dissipating before they die from the mental strain are slim. I would also guess that the remaining Servant's are experiencing the same phenomenon."

"No way, you mean their all helpless." Shirou asked, looking down at the struggling Servant's. Even if Mordred were the only one not affected by this strange effect, Shirou doubted he would be able to stand by watching the other Servant's writhe and scream in pain. "We have to do something."

"How it pains me to admit it you are right. Teaming up with the enemy is not something I normally do, but I would rather team up with several enemies than lose all chance of winning to one individual." Shun replied. "But you must understand this means we must kill Caster without the aid of our Servant's, even with all of us fighting together, it may not be enough to save them in time."

"No," A weakened voice interrupted. Mordred had somehow found the strength to speak and was using his sword to lift himself from the ground. "I can fight!"

Shun was stunned. Even assuming it was possible at all to resist this magic, having done so so quickly was almost unthinkable. "You… how is it you stand?"

"I am a Homunculus." Mordred replied. "It may be that the difference in my molecular structure differs enough from that of other Servant's that I am capable of some resistance."

"A Homunculus? I see," Shun said at this. "But still, you are in no condition to fight. In your state you would be a hindrance more than an asset."

"No, with my Noble Phantasm, we may have the fastest shot at defeating Caster, but we would need a clear shot." Mordred said. "This sword is laced with magic, even being able to strike at the Noble Phantasm of Caster would be enough to break the spell."

"Really," Shun asked, and then thought about it for a moment. "Very well, but you must make sure you succeed in the first strike, or there will be no second chance."

"I know, let's go." Mordred replied.

"Wait, what about the other Servants?" Shirou asked.

"They won't be able to stand until the spell is broken, much less fight. We must leave them for now." Shun answered.

Shirou wanted to argue, but knew there would be no point, and every second they wasted was less of a chance they could be saved at all. "Fine," he said.

"As long as the spell remains in effect, I can track the flow of Prana back to Caster. Allow me to lead." Mordred said and began running ahead despite the great pain he must have been enduring.

Although Shun and Shirou had banned together easily enough, Assassin's Master Kasumi was not being nearly as cooperative with Tohsaka. "Hmph, something of this level will not easily kill my Servant. Caster can wait, but when will such a golden opportunity to kill of an opposing Servant come along if I defeat Caster now?" She unhesitating said without any sort of regret.

"How can you say that?" Tohsaka retorted. "Your Servant is lying there at your feet writhing in pain without feeling anything?"

"Why should one care about a Servant? Their only use is living; so long as you have the strength to finish things on your own, they don't even need to step foot on the battlefield. The state of my Servant does not matter so long as he can live through it."

Kasumi's brother Yamato did not feel the same way as her. He couldn't stand the thought that Berserker was in the same kind of pain. But voicing his opinion could potentially lead Kasumi realizing his status as a Master, so he had no choice but to grind his teeth and try to finish Archer off as fast as possible so they could go after Caster.

"Yamato, would you like the honors of finishing Archer off?" Kasumi asked.

To appear as normal as possible to Kasumi, Yamato chose his response carefully. "You say that but you just don't want to be bothered yourself to exert the energy. Fine; _Movendi ad Framea_ **(Rock to Spear).**" Yamato spoke and stomped on the ground.

Following his stomp, a slab of rock shot up from the ground in front of him and he caught it in his hand. The slab of rock was in the shape of a spear, and he pointed it as Archer, but then Tohsaka stood between them.

"Do you really think I'd just let you kill my Servant?" She asked and held up some of her magic jewels.

Yamato frowned at this. "Then I'll just skewer you first." He said, and charged at Tohsaka.

Tohsaka was ready to throw her jewels at Yamato, but suddenly someone came between them. A golden shield blocked Yamato's attack, Archer had somehow managed to get to his feet despite being supposedly incapacitated by Caster's spell.

"What, but how?" Yamato wondered and looked over to Assassin, who was still writhing in pain, same as before.

"I don't understand it either, but…" Archer began. "Apparently I'm not someone who will be affected by such a simple curse." At this Archer push Yamato back and was instantly holding a long sword and swung it at Yamato, but he managed to get back before it struck.

Archer looked at Yamato, but unlike Assassin whose eyes were shrouded in darkness, Archer's eyes were completely void of such a sight. For whatever reason, Caster's spell was no longer in any effect for him.

Yamato readied himself to fight again, but as he did Archer was suddenly holding a bow and arrow that was pointed strait at Assassin. "I'm not so heartless as you two to kill a Servant who can't defend himself, but if you don't let us leave to defeat Caster you will have forced my hand." He said, and then changed his gaze to meet Kasumi's. "'A Servant's only use is living,' that's what you said right?" Archer said, making Kasumi chose either lose or withdraw.

Kasumi clicked her tongue. "Fine, I get it; just leave before I change my mind." She said irritated.

Still holding his bow and arrow toward Assassin, Archer and Tohsaka made their way past the group, and then ran off to find Caster. "Kasumi, if you aren't going to fight them, perhaps the best option would be to fight Caster." Yamato said, trying not to sound too desperate.

Kasumi however turned the other way and walked away. "Forget it, I've lost interest. Whether Assassin lives or dies will simply determine if I continue at all…"

Yamato couldn't believe what he was hearing. He always knew Kasumi was a cold woman, but he couldn't believe she would go so far as to completely abandon Assassin on such a small whim. He stood there and clenched his fist.

As he did that, he didn't intend to show anymore mercy to her. (Berserker, if you can move at all…) He thought as his hidden Command Seals began to glow where they couldn't be seen. (…Rise to your feet, and use all your strength to kill Kasumi.) With that thought, a Command Seal was gone.

There was no turning back now. He could no longer second guess himself if he ended up feeling pity for his sister in the end or if she pleaded for life. The order was issued, and even though he was still shaking in pain alongside Lancer and Rider, Berserker received the command loud and clear, and with it came an astounding amount of strength.

Berserker somehow managed to rise to his feet because of the command and locked onto his target he must kill: Kasumi Inoue.

After about 10 minutes, Archer and Tohsaka caught up with Shirou, Mordred and Shun. Shirou quickly explain what had happened on their end, and Tohsaka told them how Archer did not seem to be affected at all for whatever reason. Deciding not to worry about how, they were glad to have a Servant in fighting condition to fight against Caster.

"How much farther until we reach Caster?" Archer asked.

In response, Mordred stopped moving all together. "No farther, they have come to us." He said, and just then two women appeared in front of them.

"Hello there, I see you got our invite." The young woman that appeared to be the Master said in a joyous voice. "Oh, but what's this, how is it two Servants are still standing; and one doesn't even seem to be affected at all? This can't be right." She said, sounding condescending and somewhat sarcastic at the same time, and turned to Caster for an explanation.

"It would appear their existences are special cases." Caster wheezed out. "One is resistant and the other is for some strange reason unaffected completely; I cannot explain it."

Due to the darkness clouding his eyes, Mordred was not able to see very clearly, but so long as he could pin-point and attack the spot her Noble Phantasm, the necklace that was swinging from side to side in her hand was, he needed nothing else.

"Let's go," Shun said and Archer jumped to get behind Caster while Tohsaka and Shirou ran to either side while Shun stayed in front.

Caster's Master looked to each one individually as if summing up their dangers. "Just so you know, my name is Nimue Linna." She said, as if it were supposed to mean something special. "Now that you know, Caster will finish you all off now." She said.

"Not likely," Archer called from behind and ran toward them from behind, a golden spear appearing in his hands and stabbing forward.

"_Diogelu _**(Protect).**" Nimue was the one who spoke, and with the single word, when Archer stabbed for Caster's back, his attack was rejected by an invisible force and he was knocked back.

"What the-" Archer said as he got to his feet.

Nimue laughed at Archer's failure. "For a Servant who remains unaffected even after the use of Caster's Noble Phantasm, that was quite a poor display of strength."

Just then, one of Tohsaka's magic jewels exploded, but even that had not been able to pierce the invisible defense established by Nimue. And Nimue laughed once more.

"Caster, if you will." Nimue said, and Caster raised her finger and flicked the necklace.

"**Pagan's Path**…" She said. "**Witchcraft**." When Caster uttered this, a circle of flames surrounded her and Nimue. The circle of fire grew and then shot out in all directions to strike down everyone around them.

Archer ran as fast as he could to get in front of Tohsaka and a shield appeared in front of him to block the flames. Shirou used his Trace magic to create a wall in front of him that blocked the flames. As for Shun, Mordred suddenly ran out in front of him and stuck his sword out into the flames.

Much to their surprise, the sword actually ended up sucking in the flames and neutralizing the spell altogether. "This sword was once enchanted by a great warlock, but regular enchantments are not meant to last forever, no matter how much Prana is used. So in order for the enchantment to be permanent, this sword was used with the power to absorb any magical spells and hold those effects within it." He explained. Shun and Nimue still did not know Mordred's identity, so he attempted to explain the rules behind his sword without giving them the details. "However this is only the second spell it has ever absorbed, it is possible that the original enchantment is destroyed with the holding of another, but it is alright either way."

Caster and Nimue were taken by surprise of this ability. However using it now revealed the plan they had already made. If that Servant were to strike Pagan's Path with his blade, it's magic power would be absorbed and the Dark Paganism cast upon the other Servants would be freed from their suffering.

"So now, with this sword tempered with your flames, I have a new means of attack." Mordred said and held the magical sword up.

Mordred swung the sword down, and suddenly a fiery of flames was launched at Caster and her Master. As it struck against Nimue's defensive magic, it was held at bay, but it was starting to break past.

"**Pagan's Path**… **Thelema**." Caster said, and the flames began to be drawn in to her Noble Phantasm.

However, Archer saw an opportunity in this and ran to get behind Mordred. A bow and arrow replaced his shield and he took aim for the crack in Nimue's shield. His arrow struck the barrier and shattered it, leaving the two unprotected.

Because of this, Nimue had to jump away from Caster to dodge the arrow as it went past. But then Shirou Traced a sword and swung it down on her. "_Wyro_ **(Deflect),**" She said and held up a hand. Shirou's blade hit a barrier and was forced back by it.

But while Nimue was distracted by Shirou, Mordred made his move. He ran forward while Caster was still absorbing the flames, making it unable for her to dodge.

Just as Mordred swung his sword down, Caster finished absorbing the flames and made a strange sliding motion backwards. But it was too late, Mordred's blade was not able to cleave Caster herself apart, but it cut strait through the small black necklace.

At that instant, Mordred and the other Servant's were freed from Caster's spell. Mordred gasped with relief from the pain and fell to one knee, allowing himself to show the pain he had been fighting back until now.

"Caster!" Nimue shouted. With the destruction of Pagan's Path, Caster's main source of power was gone. If they did not flee, they would surely be defeated. Nimue ran to Caster and looked back at everyone else. "Don't think you've won. Caster has other ways of fighting!" Nimue told them.

"Like it matters," Archer said. "Without their Noble Phantasm, a Servant is all but defeated."

Nimue grinned. "Then I'll have her show you." She said and held up the hand with Command Seals on it. As they began to glow, Nimue pronounced her order. "Caster, don't hold back, show them your full power!" And with that, a Command Seal was gone.

Caster looked around at Nimue. "As you wish, Master." She muttered, and then did something that shocked everyone, even Nimue.

Caster did not use a spell or somehow create an all powerful weapon. Instead, she simply took her hand, and thrust her fingers strait through the chest of her own Master. Nimue looked back with the very last of her life. "What… are you…" She squeezed out.

Caster pulled her hand from Nimue's chest and held her Master's still beating heart in her hand. "I'm merely doing as you commanded, Master." Caster answered Nimue's question as her dead body fell to the ground and her blood spread. "I'm showing them my full power." Caster said.

Caster continued and stuck Nimue's heart into her mouth, and began to devour it whole. Everyone else was completely speechless and could do nothing but watch and the Servant even continued to begin and devour the rest of Nimue's body as well.

"An evil witch who eats young human beings…" Mordred began.

"Indeed, such a Servant could be only one person." Shun agreed. "The evil witch of Slavic Folklore: Baba Yaga!" He said.

Caster, now revealed to be Baba Yaga, finished eating Nimue's body. It was at this time her body began to pulse with an aura that was evil beyond belief. "**Pagan's Path**… **Slavic**!" She said, and suddenly the whole street was engulfed in darkness.

None of them were able to see a thing, inside this bubble of darkness and evil, Caster would be supreme. "What's going on?" Shirou asked, trying to find someone through the darkness.

"Master Emiya, where are you?" Mordred called back.

"Archer, are you alright?" Tohsaka called out.

"Everyone, calm down; there is no more need to worry." Shun told them with confidence in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Archer asked.

"I mean that my Servant is about to finish Caster off once and for all. You didn't realize it, but throughout the battle with Caster I was supporting you with my augmentation magic." Shun told them. "Your accuracy, speed, endurance, and strength were better than normal. I did the same to Lancer, so with his increased speed, he is arriving as we speak.

"Scratch that Master, I've already arrived." Lancer's voice rang out.

"But it won't matter; he still can't find Caster with this darkness."

"He doesn't have to. His Noble Phantasm can find his target no matter where they are." Shun said, and then spoke directly to Lancer. "Go, Lancer, use your Noble Phantasm that will never miss its mark!"

"Understood! Go now, my spear and strike down Caster! **Gae Assail: Ibar**!" Lancer called out this and let his lance fly.

The other's understood when they heard the name and incantation. Gae Assail was a magical spear that belonged to a well-known Irish deity that was worshipped as the sun god. His name was Lugh, and his Gae Assail was one that would never miss with the word Ibar, and would return upon the word Athibar.

With such a weapon, unless the spear was destroyed, there was no chance it would not strike the target. A few seconds later, the darkness dissipated, and Caster's body lay on the ground dead with Lancer's spear run through her heart, and with it the danger she presented was gone as well.

"Athibar," Lancer called and his spear returned to his hand.

"Our truce ends tomorrow night." Shun told Shirou and Tohsaka. "I look forward to great battles with both of you. Let's go, Lancer." Shun said and walked away with his Servant.

On the other end of the war, Berserker stood above the body of a female woman with his blade covered in her blood. The woman was his Master's sister, Kasumi Inoue. Yamato stood behind him and looked at the scene, but felt no remorse for his actions. After killing his own sister, Yamato Inoue had proceeded to take her Command Seals, so he now had five.

"You have killed my Master; I will not be far behind." Assassin said, beginning to stand now that the effects of caster's spell are gone.

Yamato looked to Assassin. The whole reason he had killed Kasumi was because of how she mistreated her Servant. He on the other hand, refused to do the same. "It does not have to be. You said so yourself once that it would have been better if I were your Master. Then form a pact with me and help me gain victory." He told Assassin, who was half surprised at the idea.

But, after a moment of thought Assassin answered. "Yes, that's sound like a very good plan to me." And with that, Yamato now had two Servants.

In a house on the other end of Fuyuki, the extra Servant known as Striker shook his head as if to get rid of weariness. Just then, Shinobu Oshiro walked in with two bowls of soup. "Are you alright now Striker?" he asked.

"Yes, Caster's spell is strong to have affected me to such an extent, but now that it is gone there is no worry." Striker replied.

"I guess that just leaves one problem…"

"Yes, Caster's identity was that of Baba Yaga. But in Slavic Folklore, Baba Yaga had no such Noble Phantasm as that necklace. Meaning that regardless of where it came from, Caster's true Noble Phantasm would be the Water of Life and the Water of Death. She is still alive, but all the others believe her to be dead." Striker explained.

"I don't really like the idea of doing anything so early on, but Caster's Pagan's Path is simply not something we can overlook. We'll have to go finish her off for good ourselves." Shinobu said.

"Then let us do this quickly, before the sun rises." Striker said, and the two left the house to go to where Caster was hiding and kill her…


	8. One on One

_Chapter 8: One-on-One_

Shun, Tohsaka, Shirou and their Servant's had all left the area the body of Caster and the remains of Nimue Linna were. However, that matter had not been completely settled. Now that others were out of range, something strange occurred.

A strange and large fountain appeared, putting those remains in one side of the fountain that was filled with glowing blue water. Despite both being dead and one being nothing but small parts, the strange water began healing both Caster and her Master until it was like it had never happened.

At this point, both of them stood up, completely revived by Baba Yaga's true Noble Phantasm: the fountain of the waters of life and death. "I must admit, you had me worried there for a moment Caster." Nimue told her Servant as she rang the water from her hair.

"It was necessary." Caster replied. "But it went just as you predicted; none of them even suspected that Pagan's Path was not a Noble Phantasm and that the necklace was meaningless. They now believe we are dead."

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good but… Saber was resistant, and Archer was immune." Nimue said and thought why that could be.

Caster chuckled, "Saber is not a normal living being. But Archer is a special case… I know what 'he' is. But as for why 'he' has materialized here; I cannot be sure."

"What do you mean, what is Archer's identity?" Nimue asked, suddenly very curious.

Caster laughed again and turned to her Master. "'He' is-" But just then something unexpected happened.

The wall separating the two sides of the fountain was broken down, and when Caster and Nimue turned to see what happened, someone gripped Caster by the neck. "Baba Yaga, the witch of Slavic Folklore who guards the **Waters of Life and Death**; the only way you were ever killed was when you were tricked by humans and thrown into the Water of Death yourself. As such, it is natural for that to be the only way to kill you now." The man in a white robe said as he squeezed Caster's throat.

Without mercy and without hesitation, the man thrust Caster into the opposite side of the fountain that contained the waters of death. Caster let out screams of suffering as her life was boiled away by the dark water. Within moments Caster was completely burned away into nothing, and since she was gone, her Noble Phantasm vanished as well.

As the man who had just done this looked at Nimue, she felt a sudden surge of hopelessness and despair. Her Servant who had was able to inflict boundless pain to most of the Servants at once without even using her Noble Phantasm was just defeated in an instant. She felt with certainty this man was about to kill her as well.

However, the word uttered by the man was truly not what she expected. "Go,"

That single word held more power to Nimue than anything he could have physical done to her body. "Wh-at?" She asked.

"Leave, as a participant in the Holy Grail War, you are entitled to protection by the Church if your Servant dies." The man explained.

"You mean… you're not going to kill me?"

"No, I have no reason to do so; now go."

Nimue suddenly felt a surge of relief though her entire body and nodded. "Thank you so much." She said, and then turned to head for the Church.

However, just as she did, the surrounding area turned blue and she was frozen in place; frozen in time. "Hey, hey," Shinobu walked up from behind Striker like this. "You sure it's alright to just let her go? If she says anything about you to those guys at the Church, they'll have the remaining six Servants swarming us faster than locust to a field of grass." He pointed out.

Striker turned to Shinobu. "I do not wish to partake in meaning killing. Even if she is to mention me to the Church, she will probably come to the conclusion I am Berserker from the way I fought. The Church will never suspect a thing." He said with confidence.

Shinobu sighed. "If you insist on saying that then I should just kill her myself."

"I would fight you if you tried. You are not a formal Master of the Holy Grail War, so you have no Command Spells with which to force me to your will." Striker warned Shinobu, going so far as to put his hand on his sword as if in challenge.

Shinobu grinned at his Servant's proclamation. "Alright then…" He began, as if accepting the challenge. "… then I'll let her go." He finished, and Striker relaxed. "But if the Church does figure us out, you're gonna' have to take care of the rest of the Servants without any help from me. It'll all be on you if this plan doesn't work out in the end."

"That's just fine, I can accept those terms." Striker told Shinobu, and with that time was returned to normal, and Nimue continued to run to the Church unaware Shinobu was now there behind her or what had just happened to her.

Now that they had taken care of their business, Striker and Shinobu left to return to their house and wait to see what this event would bring them.

The next day Shirou woke up and had breakfast with Sakura as usual and headed to work soon thereafter. When he returned from work he made his way around the house to the dojo with food he bought on the way back for Mordred. He hadn't been able to sneak food away that morning and Sakura was probably inside with lunch waiting for him.

Holding the bag of chain restaurant fast food, Shirou opened the door and walked in. "Hey, Mord-" He started, but suddenly Mordred pulled Shirou to the side and shut the door forcefully. "What was that-?"

"Sh!" Mordred hushed Shirou and cracked open the door to peer outside.

"What are you doing?" Shirou whispered angrily.

Mordred turned to Shirou. "Master Emiya, I fear another Master is onto us." He said.

"Another Master, what do you mean?" Shirou asked.

"I felt a Servant's presence last night before we left the house; and today when I made sure of my assumptions. There's no doubt one of the Servants is watching us here."

"What, do you know where he is?"

"No, he realized I was onto him and retreated into spirit form, making it impossible for me to track him." Mordred said and looked out the door again. "This is pure speculation, but to make sure… Master Emiya, does that woman staying with you know magic?"

Shirou became surprised and frustrated when Mordred asked this question. "No, Sakura doesn't know anything about magic!" He proclaimed.

"Are you certain?" Mordred double-checked. "I sensed a strong magic circuit within her."

Shirou clicked his tongue. "In the previous war Caster had used a spell on her to force her to fight because she had a dormant magic circuit." He admitted. "But she doesn't even remember that; she doesn't have anything to do with magic, I'm positive."

Hearing how sure Shirou was, Mordred relaxed. "I understand, if you're sure."

"Yeah, now try to relax a bit. Even if there is a Servant watching us, if they haven't attacked by now, their probably waiting for nightfall, so we can leave it be until then." Shirou tried to convince Mordred.

Shirou left the dojo, swinging back to the front door of his house and entering. As expected, Sakura was waiting inside with lunch already on the table. "Welcome back, Shirou." Sakura said politely.

He was sure it was just Mordred's accusations getting the better of him, but he found himself paying close attention to Sakura, like she might have something to do with this. He shook the thought from his head; that was just impossible.

Day turned to night and Shirou got out of his bed once he was sure Sakura would be asleep. He went through his house and made his way to Mordred in the dojo. "Hey, do you still sense the Servant out there?" he asked.

"No, as I said earlier he fled into spirit mode, making it impossible to track him. But he should still be nearby." Mordred answered, standing up and picking up his sword.

Shirou looked at the Noble Phantasm and a question came to mind. "Hey, about your Noble Phantasm Clarent…" He began.

"Yes," Mordred asked Shirou continue.

"You said it has the power to keep spells and enchantments inside it for never ending use. Does that mean Caster's magic spell from last night is still inside?"

"Indeed, Clarent has now been tempered with her fire; I use them to my own advantage for the duration of the war." Mordred answered. "I have also found the original enchantment placed on it by the wizard Merlin so that only my father, King Arthur could pull it from the stone has also remained intact. In other words, the more spells my sword can absorb, the stronger I will become. However Clarent can only absorb spells in their raw form. That is why my sword did not gain the powers of Caster's Pagan's Path when cutting through it."

"I see, I guess that makes sense." Shirou said.

"Anything else?" Mordred asked.

"No, that's enough."

"So what's our plan; are we going wait for Tohsaka and Archer?"

"No, let's search for this Servant you sensed. There's a chance Tohsaka will be intercepted by one of the other Servants, its better not to wait for her if she might not get here."

"Understood, I sensed the Servant up on the roof; let's go."

"Alright," Shirou and Mordred left the dojo and ran toward the house. Mordred grabbed onto Shirou and jumped up onto the roof with him and then looked around for some trace of the Servant. "We know you're here, why not show yourself?" Mordred shouted to try and make the Servant come out of hiding.

A moment passed and nothing happened. But then a figure appeared out of thin air and stood before them. It was one of the Servants they had fought last night, the one who had been forced into the battle when Lancer attacked; Rider.

However, when he opened his eyes to look at them, his reaction made it seem like he didn't mean to. (What the- I didn't come out of spirit form.) Rider thought. If he could avoid battle by remaining in spirit form, his Master's Command Spell would have ordered it. This had been just like the pervious night when he suddenly found himself overlooking the battle of Saber and Berserker.

"You are Rider correct?" Mordred asked. "Tell me, where is your Master?" Rider did not respond in any way, refusing to give them any kind of information to them. "Not the talkative type I see. No matter, as you are here, I shall defeat you before the night is done." He said and pointed his sword at Rider.

"Wait," Shirou whispered. "We should try to lead him into town a bit, if we make too much of a commotion up here Sakura might wake up."

"Understood," Mordred nodded.

"That won't work," Rider suddenly said, apparently overhearing them. "By Command Spell, I am forbidden to go look for battle, I have to wait for the other Servants to come to me." He informed them. "If you run with the intent I follow, I will be forced to stay put."

"Is that so? No matter, I will simply have to push you off this house." Mordred replied and held Clarent to the side.

The flames from Caster's spell absorbed by Clarent began to envelop the blade. Mordred swung the blade side to side; causing a wave of magical flames that flew toward Rider. Not knowing of Mordred's sword's power beforehand, Rider was caught by surprise and jumped up, letting the flames pass by below him.

Mordred expected this and jumped up after him, swinging his sword at him. Rider took his blade and blocked Mordred's attack, but Mordred had coated the blade in flames first, and then let the flames loose on Rider, which pushed him back and away from the house, and Mordred and Shirou ran after him.

Just as Rider neared the ground he pushed his blade through the flames and skidded to a stop. But then Shirou ran up to him with Bakuya and Kansho in his hands, swinging them one after another to keep Rider off balance until Mordred got right above them. "Now, Master Emiya," Mordred shouted and swung his blade, throwing a violent vortex of flames on top of Rider just as Shirou jumped away from him, and he was engulfed completely.

"Alright, we got him!" Shirou said, knowing even a Servant wouldn't be able to get away from such a powerful attack unscathed.

"No, that's wrong." Rider's voice came from within the flames, surprising Shirou and Mordred. "I didn't mean to mislead you, I was just caught off guard since you did not display that attack at our last encounter." As Rider continued to speak, the flames engulfing him began to dissipate, and were extinguished as if from Rider's will, without even a scratch on him. "Magic cannot harm me."

Meanwhile, Tohsaka and Archer ran into trouble on their way to Shirou's house. Standing before them were three men: the Servant Assassin, whom they fought last night and Yamato, who was the brother of Assassin's master, Kasumi. But then the big question was why the second Servant was present, and where was Kasumi.

"Assassin, where is your Master?" Archer asked. "She didn't seem to have a problem revealing herself before, so there is no need to do so now."

"Indeed, if only she were my Master anymore." Assassin told them.

"What does that mean?" Tohsaka asked.

"I killed her." Yamato proclaimed. "I used a Command Spell and ordered my Servant, Berserker, to kill Kasumi."

Tohsaka was left speechless. "You killed her, your own sister?"

"Yes I did, she did not deserve to be a Master; she had no respect for her Servant!" Yamato said, becoming infuriated just talking about it. "After you and Archer left to fight Caster, I said we should try to help as well or Assassin might die. But do you know how she replied?" Yamato asked.

"_Forget it, I've lost interest. Whether Assassin lives or dies will simply determine if I continue at all…"_

"That's what she said; Kasumi completely abandoned her Servant on a whim, and I wouldn't stand for that!" Yamato yelled.

Tohsaka was still having trouble rapping her head around the idea of someone killing their own sibling, but she understood Yamato's feelings. She would never be able to sit still and watch as someone turned their back on a dying person.

But even if Yamato killed his sister in order to save Assassin, could something like that really be justified with regular logic? If a Servant dies they are simply returned to wait on the chance to be summoned once again, but killing a Master was another story entirely; they could not come back, they would simply die, and that would be that.

"But even then, you don't feel any remorse?" Tohsaka asked.

"But enough of this, I did not come here to talk; I came here to fight!" Yamato said. "Go, Berserker,"

At his command, Berserker walked forward and held out his two swords in challenge to Archer. "Will you be able to fight me?" He asked, as if questioning Archer's bravery.

Archer did no respond, but answered instead by swinging his arm up and throwing the golden knife that was suddenly in his hand at Berserker's chest. In response, Berserker swung one of his blades and knocked the knife to the side, after which it vanished as if it were never there.

However, instead of being upset that Archer refused to back down, Berserker smiled as if pleased. "There was not even the slightest bit of hesitation in your attack; I never thought the day would come when I had the chance to fight such a worthy opponent." He stated, and prepared to launch himself into battle.

"Huh, what does that mean?" Archer asked, not understanding how Berserker could tell how worthy an opponent he would be from just one attack.

"I faced many warriors in my time, but never have I seen someone with no fear at all when before my swords." Berserker said.

But something struck Archer as off with Berserker's statement. "Odd, you are specifying that people you fight fear your swords instead of you. Could that be a property of your weapons themselves?" He asked.

Berserker laughed slightly at Archer's deduction. "It is, but that alone should not be enough to discern my true identity. But enough talk, let us begin!" Berserker said and launched himself forward to fight Archer.

Archer put up his hand and a long sword appeared to block Berserker's first strike, but Berserker's swing was strong, and pushed Archer backward and crashed into the ground, sending rubble flying toward him.

But Archer was not taken down that easily. He swung his free hand and was suddenly swinging a mace that shattered the rubble as he skidded to a stop. Upon balancing himself, Archer threw the sword and mace at Berserker with almost impossible accuracy and strength and jumped overhead, preparing to fire an arrow from a bow.

But Berserker did not waver. He swung his swords one after another with incredible force and strength, knocking both the sword and mace away, which vanished in turn just as Archer shot the arrow down on Berserker's head. But once again Berserker swung his blades above and knocked the projectile back, after which it vanished as if it were never there.

The bow in Archer's hand was suddenly replaced with a broadsword as he came crashing down on top of Berserker, who used both of his swords to block the attack and put them in a stalemate. "For one who carries the title of 'Archer' you sure have a rounded fighting style." Berserker said with a grin. "Master, Assassin, may I ask you not to interrupt this battle? The chance to fight with your all only comes once a lifetime."

"Understood Berserker, fight to your hearts content." Yamato replied, and then glanced over at Tohsaka, and smiled when he found her to be shaking.

Tohsaka knew what must have been the cause of her distress. Berserker said his swords placed fear into his opponents; this fear must have been a result of that power. She wanted to assist Archer, but could not find enough courage to do so.

"Rin, stay back, this guy isn't someone to take lightly." Archer said, snapping Tohsaka from her trance for a moment, not that would have mattered either way since she had too much fear before Berserker's swords to even move.

At that moment, Archer pulled a dagger from his unknown stash of weapons and stabbed at Berserker. But Berserker jumped back and avoided it, after which Archer switched his weapons out for twin swords, which would allow him to fight on the same level as Berserker and they both ran forward to continue their battle.

But then the combatants heard someone shout from above them. "Gae Assail," At the sound of the person's voice, Archer and Berserker stopped themselves and leapt backward just as a spear thrust into the ground where they would have clashed a great speed, creating a crater where it pierced the ground. Afterward, the Servant Lancer, who to Tohsaka and Archer was already revealed to be the Irish deity Lugh landed between them and picked up his weapon. "Looks like you guys are having fun, mind if I join in?" Lancer asked as his Master, Shun Saito walked up as well.

"Lancer, you are still too easy, you should use the incantation when you throw your spear." Shun said, critizing Lancer sarcastically.

"Perhaps, but that's just no fun. What's the point of war if it's over before you've really had a chance to fight?" Lancer asked. "Caster I couldn't chance leaving alive, but these two are a completely different story."

Shun laughed at Lancer's explanation behind his actions. "I suppose you're right, but if you must feel the rush of battle, you must be sure to emerge victorious."

"You got it boss." Lancer replied as he glanced over at Archer and Berserker.

Berserker spoke next. "Interesting, so you wish to join our battle, do you?" He asked and pointed one of his swords at Lancer. But suddenly Lancer felt a sudden surge of wariness. It was a small sensation, but the feeling was shown in his expression as his smile turned to a scowl before Berserker. At this, Berserker merely scoffed. "I apologize, but I must deny your request. Assassin, if you would?" Berserker asked.

"Of course, this should prove to be an interesting bout." Assassin said as he drew his sword and stepped toward Lancer. "We may get in each others way if the two of us fight here. Might I suggest we move this somewhere else?"

Lancer glanced over at his Master as if wondering if this was alright. Shun nodded, and then Lancer's smile came back to his face. "Alright then, let's go." He said, and then He and Assassin began running down the street, followed by Shun.

Once they were a good distance away from Archer and Berserker, the three of them stopped and faced each other. Lancer flipped his spear around in his hand a couple of times and then pointed it at Assassin, who readied his sword. "You called your weapon 'Gae Assail' correct? So that means your identity is the person who wielded that weapon, Lugh." Assassin stated.

"That's right," Lancer confirmed with no qualms over revealing his identity. "But how about we get strait to the good stuff?" Lancer asked, and then leapt forward at Assassin to commence their battle.

As Lancer stabbed forward with his spear, Assassin brought his sword up and pushed the spear to the side so it would pass by his head and miss. But then Lancer brought it back and struck again. Assassin continued to black his attacks very well for a minute or two, but then suddenly noticed that with each attack, Lancer's speed was increasing.

Lancer stabbed forward again, and Assassin was left with barely enough time to dodge, but the tip of the spear cut into his cheek. That's when Lancer changed tactics and swung his spear around to the other side of Assassin and attacked his right side. Assassin wasn't going to have time to block, so instead he jumped upward as fast as he could and got behind Lancer.

Assassin turned around and turned the tables by beginning to attack Lancer. With each swing of Assassin's blade Lancer blacked with the side of his spear, and then when he found a chance, he switched the order back and attacked himself.

The two of them were amazingly well-matched, but Assassin could tell something was going on with Lancer that if this fight went on for too long, he would end up having to use his Noble Phantasm, and even then might loose. He was an Assassin after all, a fair one-on-one battle was not exactly his strong suit; his Noble Phantasm might be the best way for him to go anyways.

Assassin jumped back from Lancer to get some room to prepare for the next attack, be it he or Lancer that made it. "You fight pretty well for being an Assassin." Lancer complimented.

"One does not wield a sword without first learning how to use it properly in battle." Assassin noted.

"Hee, guess you've got a point there." Lancer said back, and struck forward with his spear once more.

Assassin was unaware that Shun was using his magic to silently increase Lancer's stats. The longer he used his magic, the faster and stronger Lancer became. If the fight could drag out long enough, there was no way Assassin could win after that point.

Assassin blocked and deflected Lancer's spear up to cause him to loose balance for just a moment and brought his sword down on his shoulder. But Lancer was too fast, he used his sudden backwards momentum to drop and roll away from Assassin's attack before his attack got anywhere near him and got back to his feet immediately afterward.

(This isn't good; Lancer is getting faster and faster as the battle goes on. It's possible his master is doing something to cause this increase in his skills, but either way I can't stop it easily. I have to figure out a way to end this before it goes too far.) Assassin thought to himself. (Lancer appears to favor direct attacks, so if I can just get behind him that could be enough to turn things around.)

As assassin thought those things, Lancer shot forward once again. Assassin reacted immediately and shifted his body to the side, allowing Lancer to go strait past him and exposing his backside to an attack. Lancer realized this was exactly what Assassin had intended to happen immediately and knew there was very little he could do about it. Assassin brought down his sword within the single moment Lancer's speed would not make up for the precision of the attack. His foot would not hit the ground before it was too late and he was unable to swing his lance around him due to the angle. Assassin saw there was no escape for Lancer as well and smiled as his sword came close to dealing the blow.

But it would not be as simple as that. Because Assassin had been too preoccupied fighting Lancer, he completely forgot about the position of his Master. Shun's magic was primarily to assist, but there was no reason he could not use it on himself as well. With his magic, Shun upped his own speed and strength to sneak up behind Assassin and lock their arms together, sealing off half of Assassin's attack range so the blade did not cut deeply enough into Lancer's back to do any serious damage.

Knowing it would be dangerous to stay that close to Assassin once he realized he was there, Shun jumped back the instant he saw Lancer was out of harms way. "Lancer," Shun called to his Servant.

"I know, you don't have to tell me." Lancer said, although unhappily. "I was hoping to keep this going for awhile longer, but it looks like this is it."

Lancer positioned his spear and ran toward Assassin. Assassin was not certain what Lancer's plan was, but he had one good idea: Gae Assail, the spear that never missed its target; Lancer was about to use that lethal attack to finish the battle once and for all. And at a close range strike, there was even less chance for Assassin to survive it.

Assassin prepared himself for a frontal assault, but then right as Lancer was in front of him, he jumped into the air behind Assassin. "**Gae Assail: Ibar**!" Lancer shouted out and threw his spear to stab Assassin right in the back.

As the spear approached Assassin from behind, there was only one thing that could possibly save him now…


	9. True Powers

_Chapter 9: True Powers_

"**Gae Assail: Ibar**!" Lancer cried out and let his Noble Phantasm fly at Assassin's back.

Gae Assail was a spear that never missed its target, once it was thrown there was no way it would not hit its mark. And this time its mark was Assassin.

But suddenly, something happened that completely shocked Lancer and Shun. Four swords that looked like they were made of a light purple energy appeared in mid air behind Assassin. These four blades swung at the same place from different angles and amazingly, they caught the spear Gae Assail just as its tip pierced Assassin's back.

Assassin jumped away from the spear and the four ghostly swords vanished, and Gae Assail dropped to the ground. But that wasn't because Gae Assail failed to live up with its legend; it had still hit Assassin, but Assassin had managed to stop it at just that, a hit. By stopping the spear when he did, he pulled off the only loophole in Gae Assails ability – just because it had to hit didn't mean it had to be fatal.

"**Totsuka-no-Tsurugi**," Assassin said. "That is the name of my Noble Phantasm."

Upon hearing the name, Shun's eyes opened wide. "Totsuka-no-Tsurugi; then you are Susanoo, the legendary Shinto storm god that slew the Yamata-no-Orochi, the eight-headed serpent-dragon?" He asked with shock.

"Correct," Assassin confirmed, and suddenly one of the ghostly blades appeared floating beside him. "And didn't you ever wonder how I managed to cut all eight of its heads off so easily? It wasn't just my trick to weaken it using the sake. In order to be certain I defeated the Orochi, I had to cut all eight of its heads off at once." Assassin explained as a second, third, fourth and fifth blade appeared around Assassin. "In order to accomplish that, this weapon was essential."

"Of course, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi's name means 'Ten-hands Long Sword'!" Shun said as the sixth and seventh blade appeared.

"Exactly, with this sword, I am able to fight 10 enemies simultaneously. Or, I could use them to attack a single enemy from 10 different angles at once." Assassin added as the eighth and ninth energy blades appeared, making ten when including the original blade. "This is my true power as Assassin!" He said and waved his hand to signal the nine energy blades to attack Lancer.

"Uh, Athibar!" Lancer called out and jumped back as his spear returned to his hand as the nine blades approached him.

Lancer span his spear as fast as he was able in front of him to act as a shield, and the nine blade were knocked away if only momentarily, allowing him to charge for Assassin.

Assassin however didn't even flinch as Lancer stabbed his spear toward his head, and instead one of his duplicates suddenly appeared and blocked the attack. "What the-" Lancer said in surprise and then flipped over Assassin and turned back to him. "I though you could only make nine duplicate!"

"Indeed, but I never said I couldn't have them vanish and reappear." Assassin added. "In fact it stands to reason I should be able to do that much. Now then, let our true battle begin!" He said, and shot two swords at Lancer like bullets.

While Assassin managed to gain the upper hand in his battle, Berserker and Archer were still going at it like no tomorrow. When Berserker smashed one of his blades on Archer, he would dodge it and counter with his own attack. When Archer struck, Berserker would deflect it with unbelievable strength and strike back.

Archer sidestepped and Berserker's blade cut deep into the ground. But then Berserker swung his second blade horizontally, making Archer leap up and back to avoid it. "Try this on for size." Archer growled and switched his swords for a bow already loaded with two arrows.

Instantly Archer shot the arrows while still in mid-air, with one aimed for Berserker's head, and the other aimed for his heart. Berserker acted quickly and swung his swords up and knocked both arrows back.

But immediately after he did, he saw a spear heading strait for the center of his chest. It came at him so fast he couldn't dodge it completely, and got a small wound at his side. The spear vanished after piercing the ground and Archer began running toward Berserker with a new sword in his hand and continued their battle.

Meanwhile, Tohsaka and Yamato watched the fight on the sidelines. Yamato had allowed Berserker to settle this fight on his own terms, and so stepped back and did nothing. Tohsaka on the other hand was warned by Archer not to assist him, but the main problem stopping her from fighting was Berserker's blades, which paralyzed her with fear if she tried to join the battle.

Now Tohsaka was thinking, trying to figure out what Heroic Spirit Berserker could be. But no matter how much she thought on it she couldn't seem to recall who used such weapons.

Tohsaka looked over at Yamato, who was staring back at her with a smile on his face, apparently enjoying how hopeless she looked. "Are you worried?" Yamato asked her. "Are you worried your Servant will fail?"

Tohsaka was taken aback some by that question. "Don't be ridiculous, Archer isn't that weak." She said.

Yamato laughed sneeringly. "Indeed, you Servant is strong. He and Berserker are about at the same level, so you see it as being able to go either way." He said. "However, if Archer wasn't able to defeat Berserker by now, he is already doomed."

"What do you mean?" Tohsaka asked.

"Archer is probably noticing it by now as well." Yamato said, but did not actually answer Tohsaka's question.

As Yamato thought, Archer was noticing something off about Berserker's fighting. He swung the blade he was currently using down on Berserker, but he used both blades to block, and then pushed back on Archer with both of them. However, Archer was no just pushed back a foot or two. Instead he was blasted back and thrown onto his back.

He got back to his feet and he and Berserker looked at each other, sizing the other up. (This isn't right. We're wearing each other down bit by bit and we're both starting to become exhausted. I can even tell its getting harder for both of us to swing our weapons, but…) As Archer thought through this, Berserker ran up to Archer and swung his blades at him.

Archer held up his arms and his golden shield appeared, blocking the attack but is still had enough strength to push him back. (But despite that, his attacks haven't gotten any less powerful. He said his blades have the power to make unworthy adversaries fear him, but that doesn't explain this crazy level he's fighting at.)

Archer switched out the shield for a bow and arrow. Immediately he shot the arrow at Berserker, but he ran to the side and then charged at Archer. Berserker swung one blade at Archer, but he ducked to avoid it and then swung his bow at Berserker, switching it out for a sword.

But Berserker swung his second blade and clashed with Archer's, however his strength overpowered Archer's and knocked the sword right out of his hand and then held his sword right in Archer's face.

"Excellent Berserker, now finish him off!" Yamato told his Servant.

However, Berserker did not deal the final strike, and continued to look deep into Archer's eyes which were filled with anger and resentment. "Simply amazing," Berserker stated. "Even in the face of defeat and certain death you do not show even a hint of fear."

"What's that, what battle have you been fighting?" Archer suddenly asked, disrupting Berserker's thoughts. "I've just been waiting for you to stand still for two seconds." He added, and suddenly Archer's golden shield appeared in the air and fell on Berserker's sword and knocking it into the ground and out of his face.

Then a sword appeared right in front of Berserker's chest out of nowhere and Archer lurched forward. Archer grabbed the sword and swung it at Berserker, who stumbled clumsily backwards and received a large cut across his chest but avoided a fatal injury. Archer swung his body around full circle and replaced his sword with a spear that had a greater reach and swung it at Berserker as well.

Berserker pulled up one sword and deflected the spear's blade away from him. Berserker stumbled back more but then as Archer span himself around again, he suddenly had a bow and arrow at ready and fired the arrow. Berserker had no time to make a full dodge, so instead he let himself fall backwards so the arrow only cut his shoulder instead of driving through his heart.

But Archer continued his relentless assault and brought out two swords and swung them both down on Berserker. But even like that, Berserker did not give up; he put his swords up and blocked Archer's attack, and then used his strength to push Archer away from him so he could get back to his feet.

And yet even though Berserker had just been put into such a disastrous situation where he could have lost his life; he laughed with pleasure. "Amazing, truly amazing," He declared and pointed one sword at Archer. "You are truly my most worthy opponent! If only you had been swifter, you may have won." Berserker said, as if now that he was back to his feet the battle was over.

"What are you talking about; I've clearly gained the upper hand." Archer argued, speaking of course of Berserker's injuries.

"Perhaps, but after such a display of your power, I will not be so easily surprised a second time. And so long as that does not happen, I will overpower you with my swords. You will not have another chance to get such an advantage." Berserker boasted, and Archer realized what he meant.

"So I was right," Archer muttered. "Your Noble Phantasm is somehow regulating your strength."

"Correct, my swords power depends on the wielder. As such, its strength is set at a single level, it cannot decrease no matter how injured I become. And now I will truly use that to my advantage." Berserker said, and then charged forward to show Archer the full brunt of his power.

During this time, Shirou and Mordred were stunned to find their initial attempt to take Rider down to have failed completely. Rider emerged from Mordred's flames without any sort of injury and declared that magic was all ineffective against him.

The reason for that likely had something to do with his Noble Phantasm, but what that meant exactly neither of them could say. "Now then, as you have displayed your powers to me, I will show you some extent of my strength." Rider said, and then lifted his odd sword.

Rider had declared he was unable to go out and look for battle, but apparently once he was attacked by an enemy he was fully capable of fighting back at will. Rider took a step forward with his sword lifted in the air, and in reply Mordred also stepped toward him and readied his blade.

At almost the same moment, the two Servants burst toward each other and their swords clashed. While they held each other at bay, Shirou used his Trace magic and created a bow and arrow. He took quick aim and fired it for Rider.

Rider however saw it and jumped and flipped out of the way. "Are you such a coward you cannot face me one-on-one with honor, Saber?" Rider questioned after landing back on the ground.

"Who cares?" Mordred replied angrily. "I forsook my 'honor' a long time ago." He said, and then charged once more at Rider.

Mordred said he forsook his honor long ago, but only Shirou understood the weight behind those words. In his life, Mordred had betrayed the Kingdom of Britain and his own father King Arthur because of his desire for the throne. As he had formally been a trusted Knight of the Round Table, this act of treason would have completely stripped him of any honor he had previously possessed with no chance of redeeming himself.

Shirou thought about this for a moment and wondered if it was really alright to use Mordred as his Servant given his relationship with Saber; but he cast those thought to the side for the moment and Traced a long sword and ran at Rider after Mordred.

Mordred jumped and swung his sword down on Rider, but he swung his own sword up to clash with it and knocked it back, forcing Mordred to be out of control because his feet had not quite touched the ground. Rider brought his blade back and prepared to deal a fatal blow to Mordred, but then was reminded by Shirou's roar that he was charging at him as well.

Shirou swung his sword at Rider and Rider changed the trajectory of his blade so that it clashed head on with it, locking the blades against one another. With Shirou's save, Mordred regained his balance and took a step to the side of Shirou and Rider and then stabbed his sword at Rider.

But Rider twisted his blade and push Shirou's sword down into Mordred's, keeping him from striking him and knocking the two into each together, causing them to double over to the ground and open them up for attack. Given this opportunity, Rider pulled his sword up and made to skewer the two of them. However, Shirou acted quickly and held out his hand, using his Trace magic.

In a second, a shield was created over Shirou and Mordred with poles at the corners sticking into the ground, holding it in place. The shield was almost created too late, and the tip of Rider's blade was sticking out in Shirou's face from being at that point before the Trace had been completed.

"Uh-" Rider stuttered as he tried to pull his sword out of the shield, but was now wedged into its very structure.

Just then, Shirou and Mordred came rolling out from under the shield to either side and got back to their feet. The two of them ran back up to Rider and prepared to swing their swords down on him while he was defenseless. Rider could obviously leave his sword where it was and avoid their attacks, but if he did that he'd have no way of fighting back anymore.

Shirou and Mordred believed that to be true, but then Rider did something neither of them could have seen coming. As Mordred swung his sword down on him, Rider pulled on his weapon, and the silver hilt started to come out of the sword's body with a new weapon attached to it.

Leaving the sword blade as if it were just a container, Rider pull a long cross-head spear made of solid silver and swung it violently at Mordred. Their weapons past by each other without clashing and tore into one another even through their armor and caused both to be heavily wounded.

Mordred clenched his teeth as more blood attempted to escape from his mouth and he jumped as far away from Rider as he was able to. Shirou was almost too surprised to continue his own attack on Rider, but shook it from his mind and stabbed his blade forward at Rider.

But Rider was not taken by surprise so easily. Rider side-stepped and avoided Shirou's blade, and then pounded the end of his spear's handle into Shirou's face, completely shaking his balance and throwing him back to the ground, and then he held his wound inflicted by Mordred

"You hid your Noble Phantasm's true form?" Mordred said after spitting out blood.

"Not technically, I use both forms of my weapon plenty in battle. During my life, most anyone associated with me would have known this detail." Rider replied "I just happened to be using my sword so far."

"I see; you are indeed a strong warrior. But don't think you will still be able to win." Mordred stated and prepared to continue fighting.

Shirou got back to his feet and Traced Kansho and Bakuya. This time Shirou was the first to charge and Mordred followed suit. As they came from either side, Rider jumped far back so that he would at least force them to come from the same direction, giving him a better shot at being able to block and strike back.

Shirou and Mordred approached at the same time and struck forward together. Rider stabbed his own spear forward and clashed with Mordred's sword; and then he pushed it to the side and deflected Shirou's attack, afterward swinging the spear back and Mordred. Mordred span back, but the tip of the spear's blade still cut into his cheek a bit, showing he was slowing down from Rider's first attack, while his own injury was less severe, and so was not quite as exhausted.

Even so, it was still two-on-one, and Shirou was unwounded, so they still held the overall advantage. Mordred span back around after just dodging Rider's spear, and struck his sword not at Rider, but at his spear instead, locking the blades together and keeping Rider from striking at Shirou as he prepared his next attack.

While Rider was held at bay, Shirou stabbed both of his blades at Rider together. Rider had no time to react and Shirou's blades stuck into Rider's side like thorns, and critically wounding him to a point that he too coughed up blood.

Being held in that position, Rider cursed under his breath. "Damn you," He said and frantically jumped back.

But the reason he jumped back was not purely because of his wounds. The second after Rider jumped away, flames shot down out of nowhere right in front of Shirou and Mordred and then moved to engulf them.

With quick reactions, both of them jumped back and avoided the flames before they were burned. They then searched the sky, but it was too dark to see where the flames originated from. "What trickery is this?" Mordred inquired of Rider.

"You've brought _it_ out." Rider said while looking down at the ground.

After Rider said this, there was a sudden crash coming from the wall close behind him. There were no street lights around it, so they still could not tell what it was; but Rider continued to explain for them. "_It _is trained to come to my aid should I ever be in mortal peril." He said. "_It _is the beast that gives me my title of Rider, and is my only regret." As Rider spoke those words, flames came out of the creature's mouth and lit up its face, revealing what _it_ truly was.

_It_ was…


	10. True Powers 2

_Chapter 10: True Powers 2_

Assassin and Lancer stood with a great amount of distance between them. Lancer stared down Assassin, who had 9 blades floating around him and stood completely calm. But he on the other hand was not in such good shape. Assassin had been able to attack Lancer with his nine floating blades without even moving a muscle, but against nine swords, anyone would have trouble, even Lancer.

Lancer's breathing had become heavy and erratic. Even though his Master was supplying him with synergistic magic to boost his endurance and stamina, it was simply not enough anymore, and he was loosing this fight.

Assassin and Shun saw it as well. With things continuing the way they were, it would not be long until Lancer was forced into submission and killed. Shun watched in agony, he wanted so much to be able to help, but with his magic, he wouldn't be able to do anything of actual worth.

(No, I can't lose now) Shun thought to himself. (I can't just let it end while I'm just watching from the sidelines!)

Shun looked down at the back of his right hand, staring at the Command Spells he had yet to use. Using one of those, he could surely order Lancer to retreat. If he did that, they would have another chance on another day, they would still have a shot at victory if they fled now.

However, "Stop that right there!" Lancer suddenly shouted, and even though he hadn't given any indication, Shun could tell he was speaking to him. "Don't even think about forcing me to withdraw from this battle." He said, turning to face Shun, able to tell full well what he was thinking.

Shun attempted to argue. "But Lancer-"

"No, do know how cowardly it would look, if the man with a spear that would never miss ran from a battle?" Lancer asked, and then turned his gaze back to Assassin. "This man in front of me is the first person I've ever faced to block my Gae Assail's perfect kill. He deserves a fight to the finish, no matter how it might end." He said, and Shun was left stunned as Lancer charged back into battle.

To continue forward despite the odds; to fight without a real chance of winning; such qualities were not possessed by Shun, but Lancer stood by those beliefs. In Lancer's mind, if a battle ever became too difficult, he could aim his spear at the heart and kill the opponent no matter what. He'd never faced a foe he wouldn't be able to kill in a single strike, so to him, there may have never been such a thing as a "worthy opponent".

To finally fight such a foe he could not simply kill at a moments notice was more exhilarating than any battle he had been in previously. Because of that fact, he did not want to simply retreat because he could not kill the opponent with his ultimate attack. Such a tactic would be seen as a complete disgrace to his name; but Shun…

Shun was just the opposite. He came from a family of great and adept mages. However, when he began to learn Synergy magic, his parents began to distance themselves from him. It was not until later he understood the reason behind this. His family had been members of the Mage's Association for numerous generations, each one more powerful then the last. Because of this, Shun's magic was seen as something to be scorned; one could not fight with Synergy magic, one could not kill an enemy with simple enhancements of the human body.

His magic was considered weak and useless by his parents and by the Mage's Association as a whole. His family magic crest was past down to his younger brother instead of him, he was excommunicated from the Mage's Association, and his parents disowned him.

That was his motivation for joining the Holy Grail War. If he could obtain the Holy Grail, he would no longer be viewed as weak and useless. He would no longer be looked upon with scorn by those with power. He would finally be accepted. But if he lost now… what would that mean for him?

"By the power of this Command Seal…" Shun whispered and a Command Seal on his hand began to glow. "I, Shun Saito command you…" He said, but did not continue.

Shun looked back to Lancer as he deflected multiple strikes from Assassin's weapons with his lance. Lancer could use his Noble Phantasm to try and kill Assassin again, but he knew that doing that would only result in giving Assassin an opening.

Lancer could feel the power of the Command Seal as Shun prepared to use it. If Shun decided to use it, Lancer would have no choice but to obey, no matter what he thought or how hard he tried to fight it.

"I command you, Lancer…" Shun began and clenched his teeth. "To fight and defeat Assassin!" He said, completely shaking the atmosphere that surrounded Lancer from expecting to be ordered to flee.

That shaken atmosphere only stayed for a second, after which Lancer grinned and span his spear around him to deflect each of Assassin's blades and then stabbed forward at Assassin himself.

Assassin put up the original blade in his hand and blocked Lancer's spear, locking their weapons together. "Yeah, you got it, Master!" Lancer declared. "I won't let you down, that's a promise!" He said, and then leaped into the air just before one of Assassin's blades stabbed into him from the side.

"This is it Assassin, the final stretch. Give me all you've got, and I'll give it right back to you 10 fold!" Lancer told Assassin as he began to fall back down to Assassin with his spear poised to strike.

"As you wish," Assassin said and held his sword at ready as he had his other swords stab for Lancer one-by-one, But with Lancer's speed he manage to swing his spear around and deflect each one before they hit and then point it back at Assassin.

"**Gae Assail: Ibar**!" Lancer suddenly called out from almost point blank range and threw his Noble Phantasm strait down at Assassin's head.

"What-" Assassin said as he pulled himself to the side, letting Gae Assail graze his cheek, exploiting the loophole in it's perfect hit ability and rolling to the side.

Assassin then sent one sword flying at Lancer, but because Lancer had thrown his spear strait into the ground in front of him, he was not left as open as he could have been. He grabbed his Noble Phantasm and pulled it from the ground, blocking Assassin's attack and then running strait for him. Assassin attempted to have his other sword attack him before he reached him, but Lancer was now too fast. Lancer swung his spear from the side and Assassin was forced to block with his main sword.

"It appears you've gotten your second wind; but just because you are ordered to win a fight does not mean it is impossible to lose." Assassin told Lancer.

"Perhaps not, but that doesn't mean I still can't try!" Lancer told Assassin. "I've noticed you can't move each blade simultaneously like it appears. If you could do that there's no way I would have been able to block them all for so long; so that must mean you have to give each blade a separate command one at a time."

"Even knowing that, it won't help you win!" Assassin said, not denying Lancer's theory and pushing him back toward one of the energy blades flying at his back.

But Lancer realized it was coming and stabbed his spear into the ground and used it to boost him over it as it past below him. "Your sword really does work best for assassinations. Even against a single opponent, if I know your weapons aren't attacking simultaneously I can avoid them all." Lancer said and held his spear up once more. "**Gae Assail: Ibar**!" Lancer called.

Since he no longer feared Assassin's blades, Lancer felt he could throw his spear away as many times as he needed and just dodge each blade as it came. Assassin wouldn't be able to make such narrow dodges forever; but Lancer would be able to go for much longer with the help of Shun's magic. It was truly the final stretch for Assassin and Lancer. There was no turning back from this battle; and only one of them could win.

Berserker ran up to Archer with an ecstatic smile on his face, unable to contain his joy for having the chance to fight an opponent that didn't hesitate for a millisecond when facing his swords that normally struck fear into any that opposed him. As Berserker struck, Archer's gold shield appeared between them and blocked the attack. However, Berserker used the full brunt of his sword's power and pushed the shield back into Archer.

Archer reacted by jumping high into the air holding his bow and arrow and shooting the arrow at Berserker. But Berserker didn't miss a beat and used his swords to deflect the arrow, which then vanished as if never there as always.

Archer's shield vanished from in front of Berserker and he fell down toward him while holding his bow as if a sword. Of course it could switch for a sword faster than the blink of an eye, so Berserker put up his sword's to block whatever attack might be coming. However, when Archer switched out his bow, the new weapon in hand was a huge sword that crashed down on top of Berserker's sword, and even managed to make Berserker's knees and elbow's bend from the sheer force as well as forming a small crater beneath his feet.

"What?" Berserker questioned with strain as he actually struggled to keep Archer's huge sword from crushing him.

"You say your swords' strength depends on the user, so they don't get any weaker." Archer said. "But that also means that they can't get any stronger then at the beginning of a battle. If that's true, all I need to do is use a weapon that will best your sword's strength." Archer told Berserker, and then lifted his huge blade and swung it strait at him.

Berserker held out his swords to block the attack again, but this time the strength of Archer's blade knocked Berserker back as if he was a baseball struck by a bat. Berserker used his swords as stoppers by piercing them into the ground, but even that took a few seconds to completely halt Berserker's movement, which only further showed the exceptional strength of Archer's blade.

Berserker looked forward at Archer, but when he did he saw that Archer no longer stood where he was. "Over here," Archer's voice suddenly said darkly from directly behind Berserker.

Berserker began to turn his head as a golden flicker entered his sight. As a reflex Berserker swung one of his own swords up to deflect it, and it was only pure luck that Archer had switched to a different blade that Berserker was actually capable of deflecting it up. But a single missed move like that was nothing to Archer, who could spawn weapons instantly.

Archer swung his free hand and another sword appeared in it, Berserker used his second blade and deflected it to the side as well, and then threw both his blades in to pierce Archer's chest, but as always Archer's shield appeared and blocked the attack. In response to this Berserker jumped back into the air and landed on the side of a buildings wall, which he stuck his blades into to keep him from falling.

Seeing this, Archer jumped high into the air above Berserker and switched out for the huge sword capable of besting Berserker's massive strength. As Archer fell toward Berserker with this weapon, Berserker jumped off the wall of the building toward the ground and Archer cut his sword deep into the wall, and then jumped off the wall as well, heading for Berserker again.

Berserker hit the ground and turned to Archer just in time to see him heading his way. To protect himself, Berserker swung his sword in a motion to strike Archer himself instead of attempting to deflect the blade he was already aware could best his strength. This action forced Archer to bring out his shield between them and block the strike, but in the process stopped his own from reaching Berserker. Archer jumped back and his shield vanished, and then he and Berserker stood facing each other while both breathing heavily.

"Amazing, simply amazing!" Berserker said, complimenting Archer despite the disadvantage he suddenly found himself. "Even now you manage to fight me on equal footing. I dare say the way you fight is more fitting to the Berserker class than any other."

However, Archer showed little enthusiasm toward their battle, the only expression visible on his face being one of anger and annoyance at how long this had dragged on. And although neither master would show it, both of them were getting concerned about how long this battle had lasted. Yamato had expected Berserker to have defeated Archer a while ago, and yet just as Berserker had said, the two were on equal footing.

Tohsaka's concerns were in fact the same thing. With the ability Berserker's blades showed, his attacks would never get weaker, no matter how fatigued he became. But Archer was different, the longer the battle went on and the more worn down he became; his attacks would lose strength and give Berserker an advantage little by little. If this battle went on for any longer, it was likely Archer would be unable to win at all.

Archer glared at Berserker as he straightened his body and took one large, deep breath to try and regulate his breathing. He was thinking the same thing as Tohsaka even if he would never say it; he couldn't let this battle go on any longer than it had. If he was going to end this, he had to end it now.

Psyching himself up, Archer got into position holding the hilt of his huge sword with both hands as he held it behind his back. Seeing this amount of determination, Berserker couldn't help but smile. "Yes, come at me Archer. Show me the full extent of your power!" He told Archer, swinging his swords a few times before holding them pointed at Archer.

"I'll finish it with this attack." Archer stated and glared at Berserker.

"Then do it." Berserker taunted Archer in reply, and simply waited.

Finally, Archer ran forward while lugging his huge sword at his side. Berserker waited in place. He planned to use the strength of one sword to hold Archer's a bay for just enough time to pierce his second sword through his heart. It would be close, but that was the most exciting part for Berserker.

For the two Servants and their Masters, time seemed to slow down with all the adrenaline each one had built up. Archer's steps took time as he came creeping closer to Berserker. Berserker could hear the beat of his heart as he anticipated the incoming attack. Tohsaka had to hope Archer wouldn't break, and Yamato had to pray that Berserker wouldn't do anything too stupid.

(Here it comes.) Berserker thought as Archer was just about to come within range for his attack to hit.

However, at that exact instant, the entire situation changed out of Berserker's favor. Instead of immediately attacking with his sword, he suddenly jumped high up into the air. This action caught Berserker, Yamato, and Tohsaka completely off guard as they looked up to see what he was doing.

By the time they got Archer in their sights, his sword had already been exchanged for a drawn bow and arrow. No sooner had that fact been registered than had Archer release the bowstring and fire the arrow straight into right shoulder of Berserker, who had no time whatsoever to dodge or block.

The force and surprise of the arrow caused Berserker to stumble and become vulnerable for the next attack. Archer switched back to his huge sword and fell down toward Berserker. Archer swung the huge sword and cut deep into Berserker's chest.

The wound was critical, but not quite fatal. Berserker fell back flat onto the ground a few feet from Archer and dropped his swords. Yamato could not believe his eyes. Berserker had lost; there was no stretch of the imagination that could save him now. Yamato was suddenly overcome with an intense feeling of fear; he still had Assassin as a Servant even if Berserker perished, but that did not matter to him. Unlike his sister, he cared for his Servant and wanted to protect him no matter what.

"You're finished." Archer stated, holding his huge sword up over Berserker, about to stab down and finish the Servant off.

Yamato lost control of his body and did the most reckless thing anyone could think of. He ran forward just before Archer swung his huge weapon down and put himself directly between the two Servants. He took Archer's attack.

Both Archer and Tohsaka especially were shocked to see this happen. Yamato was cut down his torso in an effort to protect his own Servant. Tohsaka had only ever seen one other person do such a reckless action before in her life. That person was Emiya Shirou; in the previous war, Shirou had pushed Saber out of the way of an attack from Illya's servant, Berserker in order to save her while in the process almost killing himself.

Archer was quite surprised by this happening; however, he only saw this as delaying the inevitable. "What a fool, so you want to die along with your Servant, if that it?" He asked with a clear tone of resentment in his voice. "Very well, if that is your wish then I have no problem obliging you."

Saying this, Archer raised his sword once more; he would kill both the Servant and the Servant in one fell swoop. However, Tohsaka could not let something so horrible happen right in front of her. "Archer, stop it!" She screamed at her Servant, and he stopped with his sword held up and looked back at her.

"And just why should I do that?" He asked her with an even deeper tone of resentment than just a moment ago. Yamato and Berserker had not yet lost consciousness, so the two looked at Tohsaka with confusion as to the reason she had stopped her Servant. "These two are right here in front of me, completely vulnerable with no way to escape. Are you telling me you want me to not kill them?"

"Well didn't you say that it wasn't like you to attack a defenseless opponent When we needed to fight Caster?" Tohsaka asked, quoting what Archer had told Assassin's Master when Caster had used her Pagan's Path to make all of the other Servants incapable of fighting.

"Did you actually believe that crap?" Archer asked, stunning Tohsaka in the process. "I only said that because if I had just gone ahead and killed her Servant, she probably would have attacked us just to keep us from doing anything! I only told her that so she would have a reason to let us leave without a fight!" Archer told his Master. "I will destroy the enemy in front of me no matter how defenseless they are. And now all I need to do is finish this one off!" He said, and then prepared to strike Berserker once more.

But Tohsaka simply could not let this go anymore. In a last resort, she shouted at Archer. "You still owe me!" With those words, Archer was frozen stiff.

Archer had told her that the next time she would have used a Command Spell, he would obey without one because he had forced her to use one just because he had no idea why he had been summoned. He told her he didn't like owing people favors, and so promised that he would do this when she asked. However, this particular command did nothing but visibly piss him off to no end.

Archer gritted his teeth, clenched his hand on his sword's hilt, and looked down upon the defenseless Berserker with utter hatred. Finally, he acted. "DAMN IT ALL!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and stabbed his sword down.

"Archer!" Tohsaka called again, but this time Archer's attack continued without pause.

But instead of killing Berserker or Yamato, his sword pierced deep into the ground beside them, abiding by his promise to Tohsaka. He took a few deep breathes and stood up straight, looking down on his opponent with nothing but pure malice in his eyes. "The next time we meet, I'll make sure the battle doesn't last 20 seconds. Say your prayers, El Cid." Archer warned Berserker, calling him by his true name.

Archer turned his back on Berserker and vanished into Spirit form, no longer in the mood to stay around, and his sword vanished as well. Tohsaka exhaled audibly in relief and looked at Yamato and Berserker, who had managed to get up to one knee.

"Why… did you save us?" He asked.

"Your Master reminded me of someone else. I couldn't bring myself to let that kind of effort be wasted." Tohsaka answered. "I'll heal Yamato's injury for you."

"No, you've already done far more than we could ever repay." Berserker argued and picked up Yamato. "I will handle my Master. You simply worry about yourself." He told her, and then began to leave slowly, his wound keeping him from jumping around as he normally would have been able to.

Tohsaka thought about what she should do now. Surely Shirou was fighting someone by now, but somehow she didn't think Archer was in any mood to fight anymore.

As if to confirm her theory, Archer spoke while remaining in Spirit form. "Just so you know I'm not doing anything more tonight. Might as well just go home and keep yourself out of trouble." He said, and Tohsaka sighed. Obviously she couldn't do anything more tonight, so she forced herself to turn around and go back home.


End file.
